Four States Score in Tri-Level Championships

The 2018 USTA Southern Tri-Level Sectional Championships were won by teams from four states in 11 levels. Mississippi teams won five times while Arkansas had four champions. Arkansas and Louisiana had a victor.

Coordinated by USTA Mississippi's Lindsey Bullard, the championships were played Oct. 19-21. Facilities were the Parham Bridges Tennis Center, 5055 Old Canton Rd, Jackson 39211, MS, 14-court facility, and the Ridgeland Tennis Center, 201 McClellan Dr, Ridgeland, MS 39157, 17-court facility. Click here for more information.

Champions were:

• Division, 18 & Over, 40 & Over, 55 & Over
• 2.5-3.5 Women: MS/Hayes, n/a, n/a
• 3.0-4.0 Women:TN/Cowsert, AR/Williams, AR/Worthington
• 3.0-4.0 Men: AR/Francis, MS/Lee, MS/Farris
• 3.5-4.5 Women: AR/Williams, LA/Mule, n/a
• 3.5-4.5 Men: MS/Merchant, MS/Kimble, n/a

Hayley Carter Wins Doubles Tournament

Former University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill star Hayley Carter won the Stockton (CA) Pro Open doubles title. ADVERTISEMENT Playing with Ena Shibahara, the Chattanooga, TN, native defeated Louisa Stefani/Quin Gleason in the final. Carter was named ACC Player of the Year twice, is the winner of four USTA gold balls and lived most of her life in Columbia and Hilton Head Island, SC.

Carter and Shibahara also won the 2018 Kentucky Bank Tennis Championships doubles title.

Southern Hall of Famer Smith Wins World Champinship

Tom Smith, of Alpharetta, GA, was a member of the 2018 US world-champion Men’s 65s team in Umag, Croatia. He won the deciding doubles match versus Austria in the Britannia Cup finals. 

Other Southerner men and women who played on teams were: Michael Stewart, Garner, N.C. 75s; Lester Sack, New Orleans, captain, 80s; Wendy McClosky, Durham, N.C. 65s; Brenda Carter, Charleston, S.C., captain, 70s and Burnette Herrick, Tarboro, N.C.

Drew Baird Named to US Team

Holly Springs, NC's Drew Baird was named to the two-boy 2018 Youth Olympic Games team.