Mohawk tennis team at state

The Piggott Mohawks made another strong showing at the state 3A tennis tournament Oct. 19 and 20 at Arkansas Tech, with the girls finishing as the fourth ranked team in the state and the boy's earning a ninth place ranking. Episcopal Collegiate School took the girls title, with Bergman and Bismarck also finishing above the Lady Mohawks. Episcopal Collegiate also took the boys crown, with Harding Academy the top finisher from the Mohawk's conference with a fourth.

In girls singles play Haley French defeated Stephanie Eubanks of Drew Central 6-4 and 6-3 in the first round, and in the second round faced fourth-seeded Kayla Forbes of Parker's Chapel, who finished as state runner-up in doubles last year. French pulled-off the upset 6-2 and 6-2 to move into the semis.

In the semi-finals she faced defending state champ, and top seeded Maggie Beetstra of Episcopal and lost 0-6 and 0-6. Beetstra then went on to take the title again without losing a game.

French then faced third seeded Katie Bridges of Episcopal for third place and lost 3-8 to finish fourth. As a top-four finisher she also was named All-State, and is the first Mohawk freshman tennis player in school history to be afforded that honor.

In girls doubles play the team of Alex Scheffler and Emily Graddy beat the team of Vinson and Cooper from Bismarck 6-4 and 6-2, but fell in the second round to the eventual state champs from Bergman 2-6 and 2-6. The duo finished as the seventh ranked doubles team in the state. Meanwhile, the doubles team of Chelsea Covarrubia and Hallie Vannada fell in the first round to a team from Mt. View and vanished as the 11th ranked pair in the state.

In boys doubles play the two man team of Beau Alex and Mark Greaney fell to the eventual state runner ups from Episcopal and finished as the 15th ranked pair in the state.

On the season French had a record of 13-4 and was named both All District and All State; Scheffler had a record of 15-6 and was All-District, while Emily Graddy had a record of 18-4, was All-District and tied the school season record for best single winning percentage at 100-percent.

Covarrubia had a record of 16-1, was named All-district and also tied the school record for winning percentage along with setting a new season record for total winning percentage at 94-percent and now holds the record for best career singles winning percentage at 90-percent. Vannada also was chosen All-District and had a record of 15-4.

Other girls team members, and their records, were Taylor Covert at 9-3, Elizabeth Ermert at 5-5, Lauren Brown at 7-3 and Vanessa Johnson at 4-4.

For the boys team, Beau Alex had a record of 24-6 and was chosen All-District, while Mark Greaney finished with a record of 24-5 and was also named All-District. Greaney also broke the school record for best winning percentage of total matches at 78.4-percent, the best singles winning percentage at 80.4-percent and the best doubles winning percentage at 76.6-percent.

Coach Paul Seegraves also was chosen as the district coach of the year. He offered his thanks to the Piggott School District for providing supplies, uniforms, rooms and meal money. He also offered his thanks to the parents and community for their support during the season. "Extra thanks also go to heather Seegraves, Gwen Duckworth and Tim Blair for their outstanding support for the program," the longtime coach added.