WICHITA FALLS - The Wylie High tennis team has hit the sweet spot - the Sweet 16 in Class 5A team tennis.
Wylie has advanced to the four-team regional tournament here, taking on Argyle at 10 a.m. Thursday on the Legacy High School courts. On the other side of the bracket is the Amarillo Tascosa vs. Grapevine battle, at the same time at Memorial High School.

The winners meet at 10 a.m. Friday at Hamilton Park Tennis Center for the state quarterfinals title and a trip to the state tournament on the line. The four-team state tourney will be played Oct. 22-23 in Waco.
Wylie advanced to its third title match as a Class 5A school last year, losing 10-2 to Frisco Centennial.

Centennial still is in the mix this year, taking on Corsicana in its regional match Thursday.

Wylie has won three matches in the postseason, first blanking Lubbock-Cooper 13-0 on the WHS courts, then taking down El Paso Chapin 16-0. That renewed the regional rivalry with Amarillo High. The winner of that match traditionally has advanced to the state tournament.

Wylie would like to continue that trend.

BLOWING BY THE SANDIES

Wylie clinched the match against Amarillo with a 10-1 lead. Matches on the court were allowed to play out and the Bulldogs walked away with a solid 12-4 decision.

Coach Adam Cherry said Wylie played one of its best matches of the year against Amarillo High.

“You want to be peaking at the right time,” he said.

Meanwhile, Argyle downed Colleyville Heritage 10-8, Tascosa edged El Paso High 10-9 and Grapevine eliminated Aledo 12-4.

Wylie owns a 10-9 win over Grapevine earlier this season. The Bulldogs played without No. 1 girls singles player Hope Willis.

Wylie defeated El Paso High 15-4 in the AISD Invitational this season.

“Our closest match in 5A has been with Grapevine, so I am expecting to see them again,” Cherry said.

Cherry wanted to see his team up 5-2 against Amarillo after doubles but Wylie was ahead 6-1. However, those wins were not easy.

“It was way closer than the scoreline shows,” he said. “At one point, I thought we could go down 3-4.”

A big win at No. 3 girls doubles was key. Down 9-6 in a tiebreaker Wylie rallied to win 13-11.

“We saved several match points,” Cherry said.

It was a war at No. 1 doubles, with Willis and her partner, Kiley Hirsch, on one side of the net and 2025 state singles runnerup Sara Shelhamer.and her freshman partner on the other. Willis put away Shelhamer 6-4, 6-1 to win the singles championship in the spring.

Wylie prevailed in the rematch, too.

The Bulldogs got a tiebreaker win in mixed doubles.

And while Wylie looked good at Nos. 2 and 3 doubles, Talan Baker and James McCall pulled out a big win 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) at No. 1.

“That was 50-50. That’s two senior boys giving it all they got,” Cherry said.

McCall said their opponent was one of the best they’ve faced.

“We went into it knowing it would be a hard match. They've been consistently winning,” McCall said. “We practiced … getting our rhythm down and making it where we would play super good together.”

It was that kind of effort Wylie needed to advance.

“Both teams just battled, but that’s always what it is,” Chery said.

UP NEXT

Argyle may not be as strong as in previous years. Cherry said it was good to see three-time state singles champ Meghna Arun Kumar graduate. She played doubles last year, but Wylie beat her in a 10-6 regional finals victory.

“They are not as strong as they were last year but they still have some good players,” he said.

Grapevine features junior Sara Gyorgy, a two-team doubles champion. She is from Hungary; the family moved to the United States with her tennis pro father. She won doubles with her older sister, Emilia, who has graduated.

Wylie will be challenged on the courts to end the week.

“I feel confident that if we can play like we did against Amarillo, we’ll be fine these next two matches,” Cherry said.

He said his team is playing with confidence and not with the fear of slipping up.

“We played those hard matches in August. This is what they live for,” he said.

McCall agreed.

“We have put everything into this. This is the time that we really focus ourselves,” he said. “We are mentally prepared to go into every match to do the best we can.”

When a match is finished, the players cheer whoever is still on the court. That is important to Cherry.
That happened Tuesday when the team was cheering the mixed doubles duo duking it out with their opponent.

“Everyone was watching those two,” Cherry said. A dig at the net by Benton Hanner, playing with Lili Owens, turned into a winner, setting off an explosion of cheers.

“It was a huge momentum-changer.”

Cherry may or may not change his lineup from the Amarillo match.

McCall said he expects to team again with Baker. They make a good team, McCall said. He's a “textbook doubles” player. That is, get to the net and volley.

“I don’t hit super big shots,” McCall said, smiling.

Baker “pulls stuff out when it’s least expected. He’ll hit random down-the-line winners or lobs. What he does works,” McCall said. “I do the same thing every time but he switches it up a bunch.”

Whatever works. And Wylie will turn to whatever works the next two days to make a fourth trip to Waco.

“You go out there and grind your heart away,” McCall said.