Stearns passes final test as Rockets keep soaring

BENTONVILLE — Parker Stearns’ third straight Class 7A state boys tennis championship was no easy task, and he had a freshman to thank for it.

The Little Rock Catholic senior outlasted Fayetteville’s Jake Sweeney in a match that went almost 2½ hours before Stearns scored the last three points to cap a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 victory Tuesday afternoon at Memorial Park.

“Sweeney may be a freshman, but he knows how to fight like a college player,” Stearns said. “He’s going to be an unreal player one day. He’s going to be the future of Fayetteville tennis.”

Stearns was the more rested player entering the championship match, having

earned a straight-set semifinal victory over Fort Smith’s Southside Ethan Eddelman. Meanwhile, Sweeney needed more than 2 hours to defeat Little Rock Central’s Anil Chakka in three sets.

That allowed Stearns to take control early in the first set, only to have Sweeney bounce back and force a third and final set. Both players then traded game for game until Stearns scored the last three points and broke serve after Sweeney had a 30-love lead.

“He completed changed his game in the second set, and I wasn’t ready for it,” Stearns said of Sweeney. “I didn’t know what to do, and I couldn’t find a weakness in what he was doing. I lost aggressiveness and let him dictate a lot more.

“In the third set, I knew I had to roll with my first serve. At 4-all I didn’t make one first serve, and I was scared of my backhand because of the wind. I’m pretty sure he got up 30-love every time he served.”

Stearns was just a portion of Catholic’s dominance as the Rockets scored 19 points en route to their third straight state title, and they had it clinched before the championship matches took place. Fayetteville and Little Rock Central tied for a distance second place with six points apiece.

The championships did make things a little interesting for Catholic coach Tim Glancy. While Stearns was playing for the singles title, the Rockets also had both doubles team playing each in the championship match, and that caused Glancy to bounce around from match to match.

“It was rather tough,” Glancy said. “But it was fun watching them, and fun being up here. As far as the doubles match, all I did was ask them if they needed water, then give them a high-five and tell them to keep playing.

“I was worried a little bit about that three-peat. The kids have competed well the last three years and played well against really good competition. Parker told me when we didn’t win it in his freshman year that we would come back and win the next three. He stayed true to his word.”

Henry Nolan and Steven Weeks also completed a run of three straight state doubles championships, but they were pushed as well by their teammates. They were taken to the full three sets against Jackson Davis and Harrison Cook before Nolan and Weeks claimed a 6-7, 7-5, 6-1 victory.