SHS TENNIS TEAMS FALL, BUT TOP GIRLS DOUBLES TEAM REMAINS PERFECT

Jordan Cormier had already been one of Southside’s top singles players, even placing high at last season’s 6A-Central tournament. Entering this season, however, Southside coach Braden Eads moved Cormier, a senior, to the No. 1 girls doubles team, pairing her with fellow senior Annie Nelligan. That combination has turned out to be a great thing for Eads and the Mavericks, as Cormier and Nelligan have posted an undefeated record. They continued their winning ways Tuesday, defeating the top girls doubles team from Mount St. Mary, 8-3, as part of a match against MSM and Little Rock Catholic at the Fort Smith Athletic Club. “I really like it; we’re undefeated and we play really good together, so it’s a lot of fun,” Cormier said. “Being a singles player is what I’ve always done, but I like the transition that I made. ?(Tuesday), I think it went really well, like we were really good at talking to each other and we were good at going for shots and being confident at the net, because we had a practice Sunday where we really worked on doubles playing and I think that helped a lot. We played really good.” Cormier finished third at last year’s conference tournament and qualified for state. But in a mutual decision between the two, Eads felt pairing Cormier with Nelligan could give them a better chance at advancing farther in the postseason. “We knew we had confidence in them playing doubles there, but it was definitely a risk taking (Cormier) away from that singles court because of the success that she had,” Eads said. “But the way that we view it is we have to put our players in the best position possible and you have to look at who’s playing singles and who’s playing doubles, and our goal is always trying to get kids to state. ... We thought that her and Annie had the best chance as a team to make it further.” It was fine with Cormier. Plus, Cormier and Nelligan were already the best of friends. “We work together, so we have a good relationship; we’re both friends, and so that makes us good, like talking to each other and cheering each other up when we get down,” Cormier said. “We both are also good at hitting the ball hard and that helps, and we have a good connection.” Plus, Nelligan brings a balance to Cormier when it comes to helping keep her emotions in check. “Annie is really good at cheering me up because I’m like really emotional. ... Even if I get down like one game, I get really mad at myself, so Annie is always there to help me feel better and help me get confident with my shots,” Cormier said. “She’s super nice and super cool. ... Annie’s definitely more outgoing and talkative and more confident, where I’m more like careful and kind of introverted, but I feel like that works really well between us.” Despite the performance from Cormier and Nelligan, Southside’s teams dropped the overall matches. Catholic took the boys match, 6-2, while Mount St. Mary won the girls match, 6-3. Although it was a tough afternoon for the boys for the most part, Eads has liked how they have performed this season after not having any players qualify for state a year ago. Prior to Tuesday, the Mavericks had won their first four conference matches. “They definitely struggled last year, and we knew coming into this year we expected to be better on the boys side,” Eads said. “We had a couple of players join the team, and so we expected them to improve this year and I definitely think they have. “It’s just that a lot of the boys in our conference are tough, but I think overall, we’re performing well.” Southside’s top two boys singles players are both freshmen, Robinson Wright and Graysen Conley, who were defeated 8-2 and 8-3, by Catholic’s Jackson Davis and Jonathan Hart, respectively. “We’ve got a lot of young kids; our two singles players are freshmen. ... They’re 14 years old and they’re playing 18-year-old kids, so in tennis terms, that makes a huge difference, so I think once they grow a little bit and grow older, get more mature, I expect them to get better and better as they continue on,” Eads said. Southside’s wins on the boys side Tuesday came from singles player Isaac Wright, who won his match 6-4, and the doubles team of Elijah Miller and Caden Ralston, who prevailed 7-5. Along with the team of Cormier and Nelligan, other Southside girls winners were singles players Lilli Bartsch, a 6-1 winner, and the doubles team of Laila Kannout and Caroline Adams, who won their set 7-5. Southside will travel to Little Rock Central on Thursday; then next Tuesday, the Mavericks return to the Fort Smith Athletic Club to take on Northside.

SHS TENNIS TEAMS FALL, BUT TOP GIRLS DOUBLES TEAM REMAINS PERFECT

BUCK RINGGOLD

Times Record | 9/18/2019

PHOTO CREDIT: Brian D. Sanderford