TEN: Noble finishes campaign in top 3 in state
during earlier season action. Noble advanced to the Class 3A State
Semifinals in girls' singles at the State Tennis Tournament in Austin.
(Photo courtesy of CHS)
Center sophomore Lady Rider Amber Noble advanced all the way to the semifinals of the girls' singles play on Monday as finished the 2011 campaign no worse than third in the state after posting a 1-1 record at the University Interscholastic League (UIL) State Tennis Tournament at the Penick-Allison Tennis Center at World of Tennis at Lakeway in Austin.
She joined junior teammates Jacy Clark and Jesse Campbell in Austin as they played against the state's best, with the CHS tandem finishing no worse than eighth in the state with a first-round setback.
Noble joined the other top seven Class 3A players in the state at the competition after placing second at the Class 3A Region III tourney. She was matched up against Shelby Brantley of La Vernia in the State Quarterfinals on Monday morning. Noble answered the challenge and advanced to the semifinals with a straight-set win, 6-1, 6-2.
Other first-round results in girls' singles included: Paige Bahnsen of Wharton with a 6-0, 6-2, win over Cassaundra Braaten of Bullard; Whitney Frazier of Abilene Wylie with a 7-5, 6-1, victory over Julia Lovegren of Kaufman; and Amanda Potts of Abilene Wylie with a 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(9-7) triumph over Maddie Schorlemmer of Argyle.
With only the best four girls' singles players left in the state, Noble was edged by Abilene Wylie's Potts, 6-3-6-1, in the semifinals to finish the season in no worse than third in Class 3A.
Wharton's Bahnsen defeated Wylie's Frazier, 6-2, 6-3, to advance to the championship round, and then knocked off Wylie's Potts, 6-1, 6-0 to capture the Class 3A girls' singles state crown.
Clark and Campbell faced off against the Wharton duo of Casey Woodfin and Dalton Woodfin in the quarterfinals of boys' doubles action. The Center team fell by a score of 6-4, 6-3, during Monday's play.
Other quarterfinal results in boys' doubles included Colin Bumann and Bryson Fowlkes of Abilene Wylie defeating Mitch Alm and Landen Kirby of Spring Hill, 7-5, 6-0; Tim Brewer and Ethan McWhorter of Groesbeck edging Onorio Ramos and Roy Randall of La Feria, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3; and Kenny Sweeney and Alex Brown of Lucas Lovejoy topping Miller Davis and Matt Price of Abilene Wyle, 6-1, 6-0.
In the semifinal round, Bumann and Fowlkes took a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Woodfin and Woodfin; while Sweeney and Brown edged Brewer and McWhorter, 6-2, 6-1.
Bumann and Fowlkes of Abilene Wylie captured the boys' doubles state title, 6-2, 6-3.
This ended another successful year for the Center tennis squad. With three State participants all being underclassman, it gives the trio valuable experience as they head into play in the 2011-12 seasons. Last year the team tennis won the Class 3A Region III title and finished 14th at State.
The Center High School tennis program is under the guidance of Leon Dykes.