Senior Karthik Garimella, Conway’s No. 1 boys singles player, advanced to the semifinals Tuesday in the 7A Central tennis tournament.
Garimella, the 4 seed in the tournament, defeated players from North Little Rock and Little Rock Central.
Junior Blake Bell, Conway’s No. 2 singles player, won his opening match before losing and being sent to the consolation bracket.
Conway’s No. 1 doubles team of senior Robbie Powell and junior Kristian Lenser won its opening match but fell to the No. 2-seeded team from Fort Smith Southside. The No. doubles team of senior Michael Hamilton and sophomore Matt Evans, also won its first match before being sent to the consolation semifinal after losing to the top seed.
Conway’s No. 1 girls singles player, sophomore Faith Guidry, the 7th seed, won her first match convincingly, 6-0, 6-1, before losing. Sophomore Kortni Gifford, Conway’s No. 2, won her first match of the day before losing in the afternoon quarterfinal.
In girls doubles, Conway’s No. 1 doubles team of freshman Andrea Moore and freshman Paten Denton advanced in a close match falling to a Southside team in the afternoon. Junior Beth Turner and freshman Taryn Imamura, the Lady Cats No. 2 team, fell, 6-1, 6-3, in the first round.
“We had a good day and with almost all of our kids staying alive to earn a berth to the state tournament,” said Conway Coach Jeff Gifford. “We won some tough ones and lost some tough ones and that’s how tennis at this level goes.”
Greenbrier’s Charli Short received a bye in the first round and won her second round match, 6-2, 6-0, to advance to the semifinals of the 5A-West tennis tournament. She has qualified for the state tournament at Hot Springs.
Other results for the Panthers and Lady Panthers; Emily Bekins won her first round-match 6-1, 6-1 and lost her second-round match. Justin Alexander won his first-round match 7-6, 6-2 and lost his second round match. Tyler Williams lost his first-round match. Hanna Acre and Paige Weaver won their first-round doubles match 6-1, 6-1 and lost their second-round match.
Also, Taylor Avery and Sara Hoopchuk lost their first-round doubles match in 3 sets. Billy Huggins and Tanner Betts lost their first-round match. Seth Thompson and Jackson Hedrick lost their first-round match in 3 sets.
Conway’s volleyball team breezed past Little Rock Hall, 25-9, 25-13, 25-10, Tuesday night.
Jada Benton and Sara Stovall had 11 kills. Gabby Roark had two aces. Rachel skinner had two aces and seven digs.
Conway won the JV game, 25-10, 25-9. Allison Weatherly hit .1000 with seven kills. Kylie Joseph led the team in aces with six.
Ashley Bernard had 10 digs.
Conway Christian’s volleyball team upped its record to 9-2 Tuesday with a 25-15, 25-19, 25-11 win over Harding Academy.
Emily Hill had 18 assists to go with one aces, four digs and one kills. Payton Cope also had 18 assists, one kill, four digs and an ace. Morgan May had three aces, six kills and three blocks. Landry May had three digs, one block and an assist. Olivia Meriweather added eight digs and three kills, Other strong efforts were by Marisa Payne (two blocks, three assists) and Andrea Howell (one dig, two kills).
The Lady Eagles won the JV match, 25-16, 24-26, 15-12.
Lyndi Dather had four aces, 12 digs, 10 kills and an assist. Katelyn Helms added three aces, nine digs, three kills and five blocks. Morgan Ledbetter had nine digs and 47 assists. Other top players were Sarah Shelton, Shelby Bradley, Hannah Eaton and Taylor Williams.