CHARLESTON — Defending champion Lyla Byers of University won the Class AAA girls’ tennis singles title, beating Madeline Bradshaw of Wheeling Park, 6-0, 6-0. Byers reached the finals by beating Musselman’s Carmen Pedrosa 8-0, Huntington High’s Molly Archer 8-0 and Washington’s Angeline Almeyda 8-4.
“My goal was just to come out, stay relaxed and stay focused the whole time,” Byers said. “I knew all the pressure was on me. I had to stay focused and play to the best of my ability.”
Byers said she’s learned to deal with the burden of being the favorite.
“The big thing in this match was just staying relaxed and hitting through the ball, not trying to overpower or do anything extra.”
Jacob Smolder and Nick Giatras achieved the same result from vastly different approaches.
Both won high school state tennis championships Saturday, Smolder of Hurricane in Class AAA, Giatra from Charleston Catholic in Class AA/A, at the Kanawha City Community Center. Smolder was measured and reserved, Giatra emotional and fiery.
“I’ve already played him like six times in one season,” Smolder said of Cabell Midland’s Ashton Cottrell, whom he defeated 6-3, 6-1. “I pretty much knew what to expect. Just make balls, high and heavy topspin. Starting quickly was good for my confidence knowing I was a couple of games up. That helped me just play loose.”
Smolder jumped to a 5-1 lead in the first set before Cottrell pulled within 5-3. Top-seeded Smolder remained steady, working near the net, then back, to claim the title. No. 2 seed Cottrell possessed a harder return and made Smolder work for the win, but was at times frustrated with himself, once earning a warning for ball abuse from the official.
Smolder said he took nothing for granted despite beating Cottrell the previous times they played.
“It’s the state tournament,” Smolder said of avoiding overconfidence. “It’s what I’ve worked for 10 years now.”
Giatras beat William Sinclair of Winfield 6-3, 6-4 and celebrated much the way he played — loud and demonstrative. The Irish standout fell flat on his back and screamed in exhilaration after match point, then rose to his knees and let out another series of yells before making the sign of the cross, bowing his head and pointing skyward.
“It’s all a mental thing I’ve learned,” Giatras said of playing with great emotion. “It’s had its ups and downs. Being emotional has definitely hurt me and helped me. I think this year especially I think I’ve been able to control that and use that anger and excitement to help me and keep me pushing forward.”
Giatras moved his opponent around well, but also found himself chasing some sharp returns.
“My forehand was working,” Giatras said, adding that confidence and trusting himself was the difference from last year when he lost in the tournament. “I was able to control the whole court with my forehand using the tactics my coach has taught me.”
The match of the day likely was the Class AAA girls doubles showdown featuring defending champion George Washington and Huntington High at the YMCA, where matches were moved after rain blew through the outdoor courts. The Patriots duo of Francesca Charles and Nadia Orcutt edged the Highlanders’ Olivia Akers and Molly Archer 2-6, 6-4 (10-8). GW was down 8-4 in the tiebreaker before scoring the last six points.
“We had nothing to lose,” Orcutt said. “We played to win. We played to be aggressive the whole time.”
Charles said the Patriots were too passive early. They changed tactics in the second set to regain the advantage.
“In the first set we were just hitting it back and forth from the baseline,” Charles said. “It wasn’t working, so we had to come to the net. That was the biggest thing. The turning point was we won most of the points at the net.”
In girls Class AA/A singles, Chapmanville’s Courtney Curnutte added a championship to the doubles crown she won last season. Curnutte lost in the second round of singles in 2023.
“I’ve practiced a lot in the offseason and played a lot of tournaments,” Curnutte said.
Curnutte stressed being aggressive and not get caught up in lengthy volleys.
“I tried to finish points early, hit more winners and keep easy balls out of the point,” Curnutte said.
Curnutte said a key to winning was refocusing after the Tigers won the team championship Friday.
“I just tried to forget about it,” Curnutte said of the team title. “After we won, I just tried to reset and refocus.”
In boys Class AA/A doubles, Winfield’s William Sinclair and Conner Waybright beat defending champions Austin Bosgraf and Tyler Fenton 6-2, 7-5. The Generals lost to the Yellowjackets in the team tournament Friday.
“We figured some things out,” Sinclair said of how he and Waybright bounced back from that loss. “We served more to Tyler Fenton’s backhand.”
Waybright and Sinclair trailed 5-2 in the second set before rallying.
“We just weren’t putting high percentage balls in the court,” Waybright said. “We were trying to go for too much, maybe a little too hard, a little too close to the line. We figured we should play more high percentage shots more than a power thing.”
Smolder and Zachary Giertz won Class AAA doubles 6-1, 6-3 over Ram Asaithambi and Ethan Shepard of Woodrow Wilson.
“It feels good to get one, especially my senior year,” Giertz said of the state championship. “It’s especially good with Jake, who I’ve played with for a long time and he’s a good friend of mine. We were really trying to focus on serving well and holding our serve. We knew they served well and volleyed well. As long as we stayed aggressive on our serve we’d be all right.”
Williamstown’s Claire Strobl and Akhia Miller won Class AA/A girls, beating Emma Bryant and Madison Baker of Chapmanville 6-2, 6-1.
By Tim Stephens | The Herald-Dispatch
