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Photo courtesy of Susan Farlow
The Mountain Brook High School girls tennis team won the Class 6A state tournament April 23 in Mobile.
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Photo by Erin Nelson. Starnes Media
Mountain Brook’s Emma Karcher competes in a singles match against Pell City during the girls Class 6A sectionals held at the Pell City Civic Center on Monday, April 12, 2021. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Photo by Erin Nelson. Starnes Media
Mountain Brook’s Pippa Roy competes in a singles match during the girls Class 6A sectionals held at the Pell City Civic Center on Monday, April 12, 2021. Photo by Erin Nelson.
The Mountain Brook High School girls tennis team proved an unstoppable force all season long. Nothing would stand in the way of the Spartans capturing a fourth consecutive state title.
Mountain Brook’s girls dominated at the Class 6A state tournament in Mobile, winning it all April 23 at the Mobile Tennis Center. The Spartans tallied 83 points, 40 clear of second-place Montgomery Academy.
The boys finished as the 6A runner-up, just three points behind winner Montgomery Academy.
“I knew that we had a really strong team,” Mountain Brook coach Susan Farlow said.
The team that gave Mountain Brook the most competition on the girls side was St. Paul’s, which finished third. Throughout the season, the Spartans knew St. Paul’s was a team to watch. That kept the team focused despite routinely dominating its opponents all season long.
“They were very disciplined and serious and worked hard as a team,” Farlow said. “It was a lot of fun for me as a coach to watch them succeed like that.”
Farlow knew going into the season that the girls would be the favorites in 6A, but worried that the drop in classification from 7A would hinder the team. She scheduled matches against the likes of Hoover, Spain Park and Vestavia Hills throughout the year to make sure the Spartans still got a taste of playing those top teams.
Pippa Roy won for the Spartans in the No. 1 singles bracket, quite a feat for the ninth grader. Her teammate, Emma Karcher, won her second singles state title. Karcher played the previous three years on the No. 1 line, winning state in 2019, but played No. 2 this season and picked up another state championship.
Karcher, Warner Johnson and Kate Jeffcoat — all seniors — won in the No. 2, 3 and 4 singles bracket, respectively. Lillian Still took home the title on the No. 5 line and ninth grader Mary Neale Polk won the title at No. 6 singles.
Roy and Karcher won the No. 1 doubles title, while ninth-grade twins Annie and Mae Mae Lacey won at No. 3 doubles. The No. 2 doubles duo of Jeffcoat and Johnson made it to the semifinals at No. 2.
The boys were largely victim to a tough draw and lost to Montgomery Academy by three points. Luke Schwefler won the No. 3 singles bracket, while Logan Woodall took home the trophy in No. 6 singles. Ethan Shunnarah and Schwefler combined to earn the state title in No. 2 doubles as well. Connor Jenkins, Dru Gresham and Shunnarah all fell in the second round to a finalist or eventual winner, while Trey Stiles advanced to the semifinals.
Jenkins and Gresham made it to the finals in No. 1 doubles, while Sam Chitty and Stiles fell to eventual finalists in No. 3 doubles.
Despite not quite winning it all, the Mountain Brook boys showed great improvement during the season and were playing their best when it mattered most.
“These guys are great, and they all love each other,” Farlow said. “They all got together and really committed themselves to working hard. They were not the favorites, but they completely came together and competed and gave themselves a strong chance of winning.”
Gresham is one of four seniors on the boys side and the only one heading to play in college, as he will attend Birmingham-Southern. Chitty, Shunnarah and Thomas Woodall were seniors as well.
