PC athletes to play in Overall Tennis Tourney
Parkers Chapel will be well represented when the Overall Tennis Tournament begins today at Burns Park in North Little Rock. The 2A state champion Lady Trojans will field three entries into the elite field while the Trojans qualified one doubles team.
The duo of Ali Looney and Bella Frisby will join the tandem of Drue Thomas and Macie Wood in the girls' doubles field while freshman Kallie Martin earned a spot in girls' singles.
Austin Looney and Spencer Frisby, 2A runners-up in doubles, will compete in the boys' bracket.
“Our goal for the Overall Tournament will just be to have fun and play our best,” said PC coach Casey Rapp. “We will be playing students who specialize in tennis so it will definitely be tough considering most 2A students are multiple sport players who don't play tennis year round.”
The 2A state doubles champions, Looney and Frisby, will meet Class 4A runners-up, Valley View's Allison Shinnaberry and Hanna Hyneman in the first round. Thomas and Wood will play West Memphis' Samantha Holt and Taylor Brossett, runners-up in 5A.
Looney and Frisby are undefeated this season and have yet to drop a set.
“I am excited about going and competing at the next level. I hope to learn from my competition. I'm honored to represent Parkers Chapel,” said Frisby, a freshman. “We will face our toughest competition we have seen this year. My goal is to play my best and learn from this opportunity.”
This will be Ali Looney's second trip to the Overall after winning the doubles title as a sophomore with Kenlee McAuliffe.
“I'm excited to compete in overalls and be able to play one more day of high school tennis,” Looney said. “Honestly, my goals for overall are just to be competitive because I learned my sophomore year that this is really serious tennis against girls that play tennis all year long and may play in college. I'm sad to know this is my last high school tennis tournament, but I've had a really fun past four years and I've tried to just stay focused on the fun times with my team and Coach Rapp.”
Spencer Frisby and Austin Looney will face 3A state champions, Episcopal Collegiate's Teddy Jones and Charlie Brandom.
“I'm thrilled to be having the chance to play at this tournament,” said Spencer Frisby. “My goal is to just go play and have fun. Hopefully I can take Austin farther up than he got last year. There are gonna be some solid teams, so it will be tough. Austin and I both just plan on going to play and have fun, to get better, and hopefully do good.”
“I'm definitely ready,” said Austin Looney. “I feel like as a team we are in one of the best spots we've been in. My goals would be mak
ing the second round and if needed, I’ll adjust from there. Me and Jordan Arrington got beat first round last year, but I don’t believe the guys were as good as we thought. First time for overalls can be overwhelming and so was state even. So now a little more experienced, we plan on going as far as we can.”
Martin, who won third place at state, will square off against 3A state champion, Cave City’s Katie Walling in the opening round.
“I was very surprised,” said Martin. “I am so excited to get a chance to compete with the best in the state. I know it will be challenging but I am always up for one. I’ve never been known to back down from a challenge. As far as my goal goes, I would like to win at least one match, but I will be happy if I just play my best and can prove I can compete at this level.”