Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
State champs
Springdale boys’ doubles team wins title at home.
SPRINGDALE — Springdale Har-Ber’s Conor Clardy and Hayden Swope admitted to battling some nerves during their state semifinal match at the Class 6A state tennis tournament on Tuesday morning.
That’s where their journey toward a state championship ended a year ago, but that wasn’t the case this time.
Clardy and Swope won the final three games to wipe out a 4-3 deficit in the third set to advance to the finals, then rallied late again for a 6-3, 7-5 victory to earn the state boys’ doubles title in front of a vocal home crowd at the Wildcat Tennis Center.
In addition, Little Rock Catholic’s Jackson Davis rallied for a 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 victory over Bentonville West’s Hayden Shoemake to claim the boys’ singles title and help the Rockets earn their fifth consecutive team title.
Clardy and Swope agreed that playing on their home court with friends and family supporting them was helpful.
“It was a little stressful, but fun having what felt like the whole school out here,” Clardy said. “It was a great day to play tennis, too.
“We had some moments where we were nervous, not playing as smart as we usually do. But we dialed it up and we won, so it feels good.”
Clardy and Swope fell to the Little Rock Central duo of Phil Abston and Zandy Djurica in the semis last year in a hotly contested 7-6, 7-6 match and finished fourth in the state. The intensity was the same this year, but the HarBer team finished strong after trailing 4-3 in the second set to avenge last year’s loss.
Both agreed the experience of playing them a year ago helped this time.
“We had a better strategy going into the match this year,” Clardy said. “We picked up what they were doing and played to our strengths. We played a little smarter, more within ourselves. We weren’t going for as much.
“We kinda just getting in our first serves, making them play a lot of balls. They are really good players and if we tried to out-hit them it was going to be difficult.”
Har-Ber coach Rick Horne had confidence in his team, especially after they made it through a tough semifinal match.
“Our goal was to get past the semis, once we get past the semis we relaxed,” Horne said. “Because we were all thinking about last year. After that, I really wasn’t worried.
“They played loose. I think that was the key getting past that hump.”
Shoemake looked to have momentum in the boys’ singles final, winning the final three games in dominating fashion to claim the first set. But Davis turned the tables, pumping his fist between points and showing emotion between points, and won the final two sets in dominating fashion.
Davis, who finished third in the state a year ago, ran toward his teammates and tossed his hat into the crowd following the championship point.
In contrast, he was preaching the exact opposite of that show of emotion to himself after that first set.
“I just told myself ‘calm down, you got this,’” said Davis, who finished third in the state tournament a year ago. “He strung out a few games and you weren’t playing your best. Get back to how you were playing in the beginning and you’ll be ok.
“I felt like I was just trying to keep the ball in, let him make mistakes and whenever I got the chance, capitalize on them.”
A year ago Shoemake advanced to the finals with the 6-4, 6-4 win over Davis and also ended up finishing as state runner-up. The Little Rock Catholic senior said he capitalized on his serve more this time around.
“Last year, he got a few big breaks on me and I wasn’t able to get them back,” Davis said. “But this year, even when I was broken, I was able to get it back and just played a lot more consistent. That’s really all it was. I just played better this year and he playedgreat last year.”
Davis said he knew going into the final that his team’s state title hopes rested with him, but he tried to block that out.
“I was just in the zone,” Davis said. “Take care of my own business and the team stuff would follow. But it was great to know that I was playing for them and with them. It was special.”