LUKE REEDER
STAFF WRITER
NASHVILLE – Monday the
Nashville Scrapper Tennis
Team traveled to Fountain
Lake to compete in the District
Tournament and see
who would make it to the
State Tournament.
The Scrappers brought
three singles players, one
boy and two girls and two
girls and one guys doubles
team to the tournament. For
the singles players it was a
tough fought tournament.
Mckenzie Morphew was
able to beat her first round
opponent from Central Arkansas
Christian 8-4 but in
the next round Morphew
won her first set 6-3 but then
lost the next two 4-6 and 4-10
in a tiebreak. Caleb Newton
also faced the same fate as
Morphew and was able to
make it out of the first round
but fell in the second match.
The Scrapper doubles
teams were all able to make
it to the State Tournament
with solid performances
from each duo. For the only
guys duo of Glenn Hartness
and Zack Backus a second
place finish in district was a
great achievement since this
was Backus’ first year playing
the sport competitively.
Hartness and Backus began
their day with an easy 6-0, 6-3
match. Their second match
was the same outcome with
6-3, 6-1 being the scoreline.
Then in the finals the Scrappers
played a duo from Central
Arkansas Christian who
was able to best them in a
three set game 3-6, 6-6, 1-7.
With the loss the Nashville
duo was able to secure a
second place finish.
For the girls the teams of
Brittany Backus and Olivia
Herzog and Leslie Lingo and
Alexus White were able to
lock up the second and third
place positions in the tournament.
Lingo and White began
the tournament with a match
against an Arkansas Baptist duo who they were able
to beat 6-1, 6-0. In the next
game they played the eventual
winners of the tournament
and lost 0-6, 3-6 to
then be in the running for
third place. In the third
place game Lingo and White
played a tough team from
Malvern. The first set was
6-5, but then it came down
to the last set after they
lost the second 4-6. The last
set was a long hard fought
ordeal that took Lingo and
White to double digit scores
but in the end they won 14-
12 to secure a place in state,
“The last match was neck to
neck so I was anxious and
nervous the entire time,
but when the final play
was made and we heard we
made it to state, I was estatic!
I immediately hugged
the life out of my partner
while screaming as loud as
possible because we had
finally made it,” said White
about her tournament.
The start for Backus and
Herzog was also a quick
and easy one with their
first match ending in a 6-0,
6-0 win. Their semifinal
match also was handled
easily as the Nashville duo
won 6-3, 6-2 against a duo
from Malvern. This took
Backus and Herzog to the
finals where they faced a
team from Central Arkansas
Christian and played a hard
fought three set match. Unable
to win the first set 5-7,
Backus and Herzog came
back to take the second set
6-3 and were unable to win
in a tiebreak in the final set
7-10. This gave the Nashville
duo a second place finish
and a birth in state, “I was
kind of disappointed that
we lost to one of our biggest
rivals but I knew that we
were going to come back
stronger than ever at state
and fight till the very end!”
expressed Herzog about her
state birth.
This gave the Nashville
Tennis Team three duo
teams that will now make it
to the 4A State Tournament
