State-bound Shady Spring girls look to build program
May 8—Shady Spring tennis coach David Willson has learned a lot in two months.
"Teams tennis is completely different from (singles) and doubles," said Willson, in his first season with the Tigers. "It doesn't seem like there should be, but there's a huge difference. It's all about depth. Team tennis, if you're deep, (opponents) have a hard time beating you. We are crazy deep. Our 5 and 6 seed are both seniors with three years of experience."
And he's right. It was hard to beat the Tigers.
The girls team defeated Herbert Hoover 4-1 in the Class AA/A Region 3 team tournament to earn the second state qualifying spot for this week's state tournament as regional runners-up. They will be the No. 7 seed and will take on No. 2 Chapmanville Thursday at 12:30 p.m.
"It's really exciting to go, because we went my sophomore year but they changed the brackets around and made it impossible for anybody other than Herbert Hoover and Charleston Catholic to make it out of the region, so it's definitely a huge accomplishment for us to be able to go," said senior No. 1 seed Haley Sweeney, a four-year player.
Those fifth and sixth seeds with three years of experience are Abby Rakes and Josie Green. They make up the No. 3 doubles team.
"It's a really big accomplishment because I never thought I would be going to states, especially since they changed the brackets," Green said. "Being able to go as a team is really special."
"It's really exciting to have this opportunity," Rakes said.
"This is only my second year of playing and I think I have improved a lot this season. I'm glad we get the opportunity to go to states as a team."
"Both of those kids have put in a ton of hard work and sacrifice and they never hung their heads or felt sorry for themselves that they (were not in the singles lineup)," Willson said.
"They just came out and they worked every single day and they went undefeated for the whole season. Unbelievable.
"Haley was an all-star for us as the 1 seed, and I'm not trying to say she wasn't a big reason for our success, but Josie Green and Abby Rakes were also every bit of the reason we made it to states."
Joining Sweeney in the singles lineup are No. 2 Raelyn Beard, a freshman, sophomore Clair Willson at No. 3 and junior Alexa Quesenberry at No. 4. Beard and Quesenberry are first-year players.
Sweeney and Beard are the No. 1 doubles team, while Willson and Quesenberry make up No. 2.
Willson said when he took over the program that he wants to establish stability within the program.
With the young players coming back in 2025, going to the state tournament is a good start.
"I couldn't be more proud to make it as a team," he said. "There's something special about that. I feel like we've got something special here."
"I'm definitely not going into it with any high expectations, but I also don't want to hold us to a low standard because I definitely think that we have overcome a lot this year and we've gotten better," Sweeney said. "I think we can do good there."
