Mohawk tennis teams at state

Members of the Piggott Mohawk tennis team traveled to Russellville this week to take part in the 3A state tennis tournament at Arkansas Tech. The girl's team took the district championship last week in action at Allen Park in Jonesboro, while the two-man boy's team was runner-up. Since Coach Paul Seegraves took over in 1993 the tennis program has produced 10 district championships and 13 second place finishes. Seegraves also was chosen as the District Coach of the Year again for 2009.

The girl's team scored 19 points en-route to their title, while Harding Academy finished with 10, Corning had four, Harrisburg had two, Brinkley had one and Earle and Riverview finished with zero. The win extends the Lady Mohawk's season record to 16-1-1.

Haley French came in as the number two seed in girls' singles, and got a bye in the first round. In the second round she beat Ally George of Corning 6-0 and 6-0. In the semi's she beat third seeded Rebecca Abbud of Harding Academy 7-5 and 6-3. In the singles championship she beat fourth seeded Sydni Sansom of Harding Academy 6-2, 3-6 and 6-1. Sophomore Taylor Covert also competed in singles play, beating Jessica Word of Brinkley 6-0 and 6-2 before losing to top-seeded Whitney Woodard of Corning 0-6 and 1-6 in the second round. Covert finished as the sixth ranked singles player in the district.

In girls' doubles action the story of the tournament was the play of sixth seeds Chelsea Covarrubia and Hallie Vannada. Covarubbia, a junior, and Vannada, a sophomore, beat Taylor Lattimore and Aslin Kisner of Harrisburg 6-1 and 6-0 in the first round of play. In the second round they upset the third seeded team of Erica Rouse and Courtney Mosher from Corning 6-0 and 6-1, and in the semi's they beat the second seeded team of Sarah Cain and Jaclyn Lawson of Harding Academy. The other Piggott doubles entry was the top-seeded duo of Alex Scheffler and Emily Graddy, a pair of sophomores. After getting a bye in the first round the pair beat Kasey Crawford and Torrie Smith of Harrisburg 6-0 and 6-2. In the semi-finals they eliminated the fourth seeded team of Hannah Cochran and Anna Britton of Harding Academy 6-1 and 6-1. This victory set up a rare all-Piggott final in the doubles' championship. In the finals Covarrubia and Vannada downed Scheffler and Graddy 7-5 and 6-1.

For the two-man boys' team the depth of Harding Academy dealt them their only loss of the season as the Wildcats scored 22 points. The Mohawks scored two points, along with Corning and Earle. Teams failing to score a point included Harrisburg, Brinkley and Riverview. The loss gives the team of senior Mark Greaney and freshman Beau Alex a record of 13-1-3 on the season.

The duo went into the tournament as the top seed in doubles and received a bye in the first round. In the second round they downed the team of Corey Wheetley and Aaron Green from Corning 6-0 and 6-0. In the semi-finals they were upset by the eventual state championship pair of Cody Milton and Seth Keese from Harding Academy by scores of 6-3, 2-6, 6-7 (5-7). Keese is also known as the All-State quarterback for the Harding Academy football team, which is currently ranked fourth in the state. The Mohawk duo then wrapped-up second place with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Logan Carpenter and Brandon Harvey of Corning in the third place match.

At this week's state tournament at Russellville the Mohawks will be represented by French, who is ranked fifth in singles play. Both the Lady Mohawk doubles teams will appear, as the duo of Covarrubia and Vannada are ranked sixth and Scheffler and Graddy are ranked seventh. Meanwhile, Beau Alex and Mark Greaney are ranked tenth in boys' doubles teams in their bracket.

The state tournament had originally been scheduled for this week at the University of Central Arkansas at Conway, but was switched to Arkansas Tech.