Wylie High School has high hopes, and more, for the UIL spring state tennis tournament.

WHS qualified five players for this week’s event in San Antonio, including 2025 Class 5A girls singles champion Hope Willis. Willis cruised through her Region I tournament slate, winning all four matches in straight sets and losing just eight games.

She’ll be joined on title trek by the boys doubles team of James McCall and Witten Sides, the Region I runners-up, and the girls doubles duo of Arabella Dlugiewicz and Mia Amor Martinez. They were third, beating the Wylie team of Jordyn Perry and Lili Owens.

Play begins Thursday with the round of 16 and concludes Friday at Northside Tennis Center. The four regional champions earned a first-round bye.

“We’re going there hoping to bring home some hardware,” coach Adam Cherry said.

McCall-Sides couldn’t duplicate their success at the District 4-5A tourney. There, they topped the unbeaten Wichita Falls Legacy team of Hayes Clark and Krew Luxton. The two teams advanced to meet again in the regional final, but the Wichita Falls team prevailed 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (9-7).

Wylie was up 6-5 and serving but couldn’t put away the third set.

The rivals have been placed on opposite sides of the 5A boys doubles bracket. A rubber match would determine the state champion.

First up is the team of Ian Balachandran-Tyler Samman of Austin Anderson.

Dlugiewicz-Martinez played the Amarillo High team of Olivia Hefley and Sara Shelhammer in the semifinals, losing 6-3, 6-3. Wylie got up 3-1 to start the match but couldn’t maintain the upper hand.

The AHS team went on to win the regional championship match.

On the other side of the bracket, Perry-Owens were dispatched 6-1, 6-0 by Ava Maria Earthman and Meredith Artho, also of Amarillo High.

This meant two Wylie teams were playing for third place and the other state berth.

The good news was that one team would advance; the bad news was that one team would not.

Dlugiewicz-Martinez continued their stellar play with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 win over their teammates.

An interesting side note is that Shelhammer lost to Willis for the regional and state titles last spring. She chose doubles this year, perhaps to increase her chances of a state gold medal with Willis returning as the defending champ.

Amarillo, in fact, put its top four girls into doubles - a move that paid off with both teams qualifying for state.

Dlugiewicz-Martinez will play Maadhvi Bhojani-Evia Rand of Friendswood in the first round.

Wylie qualified Hope and a mixed doubles team last year. This year, five players are going south. Cherry’s hopes are high that all three entrants will medal.

“Looking good. Our goal is for everyone to bring home a medal,” Cherry said during a break in practice Monday. The team was forced to work out indoors due to rain and wind.

“No wind, no sun … I think they’ve enjoyed it,” he said. “They’ve had some really good practices.”

Despite McCall-Sides losing, Cherry believes they got a good draw for the state tournament.

“Better draw taking second instead of first but now we have to go take care of business,” Cherry said.

He is pleased to see a girl who has played No. 3 (Dlugiewicz) and No. 6 singles (Martinez) gel into a formidable doubles duo.

“Not many 6 girls get to make it to state,” Cherry said of Martinez, a junior.

“They realized they can play with anyone,” Cherry said. “Just put it all together and finish some sets.”

That would be the goal for all three qualifiers this week.

“I’m really excited,” he said.

MAMMA MIA!

The Dlugiewicz-Martinez was Wylie’s No. 2 team. They lost to their teammates for the district title and had an outside chance of making it to the state tournament.

They cashed in.

“It definitely is a little bit surprising,” Martinez said. “We played together last year and didn’t make it out of district.

“We are a very solid team, especially when we put our mind to it. But when we got to district and regional, we were in that really good mindset. Nothing was getting past us. We weren’t lingering on points that we lost. We just moved on. We had a really good morale.”

Before the regional tournament, Dlugiewicz admitted she was a bit distracted by everything going on in her life. A senior, she is graduating third in her class. She also was competing in UIL academic events.

She would do her best at the regional tourney, and have fun. She would play hard for her partner. But all was not lost if they didn’t make it to state.

But here they are. A medal is possible. Cherry believes the Amarillo duo that beat them could win gold, yet his team pushed them in Lubbock.

Martinez said their biggest improvement has been mental.

“We were a good team last year but we gave up a little too much. This year, we were pushing through,” Martinez said. “That’s what really got us to state.”

She said it was hard to play Perry-Owens for the state berth. One team would lose.

“That was really tough … playing our team,” she said. “We both knew we wanted it very badly. We tried to be great sports. We played a very long, hard match. It showed the best of both sides.”

Since neither player has been at the spring state tournament - they both have played at the highest rounds in team tennis in the fall , what advice has Willis given the first-timers?

Play with the utmost sportsmanship, Martinez said. Represent yourselves and your school well.

“Even if you’re losing, it comes down to basic morality,” she said.”If you are honest and a good sport on the court, people will notice you more than you think.”

The doubles team’s goal is to win a first-round match, which she believes they can.

“From there, do our best and see where we land,” she said. “I’m just proud we made it there.”

Since Lubbock, Martinez has been working with her off-campus instructors in addition to the team workouts at school. She is hitting her forehand well and serving her best, she said, but the focus was on the mental game.

“In high-level tennis, it’s not about who’s better but who wants it more,” she said. “At state, everyone’s a great player. Everyone can hit massive serves. Everyone can hit winners. But it’s who can grind the most.”

Dlugiewicz complements the duo with a strong net game and strong backhand game.

“When I’m serving and she’s at the net, we are a powerhouse,” Martinez said, adding that she didn’t lose a service game at the regional tournament.

“Comparing us from last season to this season,” Martinez said, “we have progressed so much.”