PHS tennis teams sweep South
Parkersburg's Cale Stutler returns a shot during senior night Thursday at City Park. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
PARKERSBURG — Mother Nature tried to throw a monkey wrench into Parkersburg’s senior night match with rival Parkersburg South here Thursday at City Park, but following a delay everything went off without a hitch as the Big Reds celebrated a pair of 7-0 sweeps. PHS senior twins Christian Marshall (def. Max Boyd 8-0) and Alex Marshall (def. Zach Farnsworth 8-2) were triumphant at No. 1 and No. 3 singles, respectively. Senior Cale Stutler won his No. 2 singles match against Jack Carmicle, 8-1, and also teamed up with fellow classmate Jack McLean for an 8-1 victory at No. 2 doubles against Farnsworth and Trent Derenberger, who fell 8-1 at No. 4 singles versus Isaac Stephens. The Big Red boys also had the senior duo of Smit Babariya and Jayden Ervin going at No. 3 doubles and they handed Patriots Isaiah Wilson and Jace Thornton an 8-5 setback. Parkesburg’s lone senior girl, head coach Eric Stanley’s daughter Emma, secured an 8-1 victory at No. 2 singles against Hannah Raper. “This was a big night for our seniors,” said coach Stanley. “We’ve got seven seniors on this team. We try to make this night special for them and it’s always a pleasure to have South over here. You know the crosstown showdown. Giving all these kids the chance to play regardless of who they are, where they are. A lot of kids got a chance to play tonight, not just the starting six. It’s a great opportunity for these kids to get out on the court and play. “Unfortunately over at Erickson the rain did hit us. We only got through the singles. We didn’t get to do the doubles. Today we started with the doubles and got hit with the rain and got delayed, but I appreciate coach Lucy (Holland) and South for sticking with us for about 45 minutes. Not once did they come up and say ‘hey, can we call it’ and I appreciate that greatly so all these kids can play and we can have senior night. I give them a lot of credit. Got a lot of great kids over there at South.” Despite the win, the Big Reds will be back on the courts tomorrow honing their skills. “We’ll probably have practice tomorrow,” added the coach. “I will give them the weekend off to rest a little bit, but most of the kids who come out and play they’ll get out there on Saturday and Sunday on their own and hit. “This group, this team, is a family and they will get together. They don’t let each other sit at home and not do something. I mean you’ll see them out at Jackson Park or over here at City Park on the days we don’t play because tennis is that important to them.” Liya Tewodros took care of business at No. 1 singles with an 8-0 victory against Audrey Smith. She teamed with Stanley for an 8-0 win at No. 1 doubles against Smith and Raper. PHS secured wins at No. 3 singles thanks to Avonlea Lewis (def. Lilly Phillips 8-1) and at No. 4 singles with Camille Tatterson besting Bella Metz, 8-0. Tatterson and Baylee White won 8-0 versus Josephine Myers and Savannah Burdick at No. 2 doubles. At three doubles, Lewis and Anna Rose Spychalski knocked off Metz and Kelli McKinney, 8-2. With the sweep the PHS boys improved to 12-0 while the girls upped their season mark to 8-4. “A lot of them know time is coming up. I mean the season is almost over,” added Stanley. “For most of them their tennis career is over. They understand the importance of where we are with the boys and where they are sitting and the girls where they are sitting. They know what they have to do to keep playing further into May.” While Parkersburg South returns to action with a 2 p.m. match today at Huntington before taking on Cabell Midland at 4:30 p.m., the Big Reds are off until they host the Mountain State Athletic Conference meet on Monday. When asked about whether there was any mounting pressure for the boys and whether they discussed it Stanley admitted, “we do. We don’t shy away from the competition. We had Williamtown. Unfortunately it got rained out. We’ve got them back on the plate here at the end of the season. Our biggest challenges are still ahead of us. We’ve got GW and they will be up here Monday. “It looks like if things pan out we’ll get to face GW for the first time and that would be two of the top four teams in the state playing. Then the following week we play GW again. It’s their turn to come up here. That will give us a true picture of where these boys stack up with the best teams in the state. That’s what they need. They need that pressure.” Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com Parkersburg boys 7, Parkersburg South 0 Christian Marshall d. Max Boyd 8-0; Cale Stutler d. Jack Carmicle 8-1; Alex Marshall d. Zach Farnsworth 8-2; Isaac Stephens d. Trent Derenberger 8-1; Marshall/Marshall d. Boyd/Carmicle 8-0; Stutler/Jack McLean d. Farnsworth/Derenberger 8-1; Smit Babariya/Jayden Ervin d. Isaiah Wilson/Jace Thorton 8-5 Record: PHS 12-0 Exhibition: Parker Knopp/Robbie Dillon (South) d. Levi Gregg/Rylan Taylor 8-3; Charlie Taylor/Thomas Lindenmuth (PHS) d. Dillon/Isaiah Wilson 6-1; Knopp (South) d. Gabe Floyd 6-4 Parkersburg girls 7, Parkersburg South 0 Liya Tewodros d. Audrey Smith 8-0; Emma Stanley d. Hannah Raper 8-1; Avonlea Lewis d. Lilly Phillips 8-1; Camille Tatterson d. Bella Metz 8-0; Stanley/Tewodros d. Smith/Raper 8-0; Tatterson/Baylee White d. Josephine Myers/Savannah Burdick 8-0; Lewis/Anna Rose Spychalski d. Metz/Kelli McKinney 8-2 Record: PHS 8-4 Exhibition: Emily Greer/Campbell Fields (PHS) d. Lily Leisure/Cami Montgomery 6-0; Aubree Schoenlein/Gabriella Badgett (South) d. Anabelle Schmidt/Madison Buskirk 6-4; Arabella Hunt/Rachel Farnsworth (South) d. Chloe McCloskey/Hannah Dunn 6-2 Next matches: Parkersburg hosts MSAC on Monday; Parkersburg South at Huntington, 2 p.m. today; Parkersburg South at Cabell Midland, 4:30 p.m. today.