Out of six semifinalists in the Mountain Seven Tournament, five represented Panther women’s tennis.
After wrapping up their second-straight unbeaten regular season, on Oct. 11 the 14-0 Panthers traveled to Jackson Park in Hendersonville for the conference individual championships. Led by a doubles title from sisters Laura and Lydia Holland and a runner-up finish from junior Kate Phillips in singles, a whopping six Panthers qualified for the 3A West Regional Oct. 20.
In singles, Franklin’s top two players were placed on opposite sides of the bracket, with Phillips earning the tournament’s No. 2 seed and junior Abigail Angel seeded fourth. The doubles partners both cruised to blowout wins in the quarterfinals, with Phillips blanking West Henderson’s Perci Moore 6-0, 6-0 and Angel dispatching Moore’s teammate, Jaden Suttles 6-1, 6-2.
Both players met opponents from Tuscola in the semis, where Phillips beat Kylie Whitaker convincingly, 6-3, 6-3. Angel received a more difficult draw however, losing a hard-fought match to the Mounties’ top player Sierra Sellars 7-5, 6-3. Sellars went on to defeat Phillips in the Conference Final 6-1, 6-3.
In the third-place match, Angel and Whitaker met to decide their seeding in the 3A West Individual Tournament this weekend, with Angel inverting her loss to Sellars in a 7-5, 6-3 win. The win gave Angel a No. 3 seed at the Regional in Hickory, while Phillips earned a No. 2 seed as conference runner-up. The top-four finishes capped a dominant year in singles for both players, in which Angel’s 12-2 record just outpaced Phillips’ 12-4.
“Kate and Abigail played tough and are learning and growing every match, which is so encouraging to see,” said head coach Heather Bell, who was named Mountain Seven Coach of the Year for the second straight season after the tourney. “As the 2 and 3 seed I know it’s not the result they wanted, but they have to be so proud of all they have and will accomplish.”
Playing nearly concurrently with singles, the doubles bracket was the larger of the two, with 16 pairs qualifying for a four-round tournament. As the second and fourth seeds respectively, Maci Stork/Logan Guynn and the Hollands drew low-ranked opponents in Round 1, each cruising to easy victories 6-0, 6-0. In the Quarterfinals, Stork/Guynn beat a pair from Tuscola in a second-straight shutout, while the Hollands dispatched a pair from Smoky Mountain 6-0, 6-4.
The tournament’s top four seeds all advanced to the Semifinals, where the Hollands met West’s top-ranked pair of Shea Sullivan/Madi Burleson. In splitting the first two sets 6-4, 5-7, the seniors seemed headed for a Set 3 dogfight, but cruised to a 6-1 victory to advance to the Conference Final. Stork/Guynn received an easier draw in the third-ranked pair from Pisgah, blowing out Ella Tiller/Anna Shepard 6-1, 6-1 to advance to an all-Panther Final.
Despite the awkward matchup, the Hollands beat their teammates for a conference title, prevailing 6-3, 6-1 to end their senior year as Mountain Seven champs. The doubles title is Franklin’s second in two years, after Phillips and former senior Alyssa Smith won the tourney last fall.
“No doubt Maci and Logan wanted to win, and it’s always tough playing against teammates. The doubles final was some of the best tennis I’ve seen from both sides of the net,” said Bell. “The Holland sisters compete with such heart, as it’s undeniable the connection they share, and in tough moments I think this X-factor definitely impacts the game. They were initially down 0-5 in the second set against the top-seeded West, playing their No. 1 and No. 2 singles players, but came back to narrowly lose the set 5-7 then pulled away quickly in the third. They never give up, live and compete in the moment and love each other and the game.”
In earning the conference’s top two Regional seeds, Stork, Guynn and the Hollands capped a dominant tourney for Franklin, and will try to match Phillips and Smith’s 3A West doubles title from last year. For all the success the top six Panthers have enjoyed however, they’ve had nearly as many capable underclassmen waiting in the wings.
“Also having our two JV doubles teams meet in the finals of the JV tournament rounded out a dominant showing,” said Bell. “Caroline Deal and Gianna Abbate edged out Marlee Barnes and Clara Stork in a tiebreak after defeating the entire field of nearly 20 doubles teams.”
In earning two of the top three seeds in varsity singles and sweeping both Semifinal rounds in doubles, there’s not much more the Panthers could have done in the conference tourney. As the fourth-ranked team in the 3A West Dual Team Playoffs, Franklin will host an unnamed opponent in Round 1 Oct. 18, ahead of the 3A West Individual Tournament Oct. 20-21.