Wylie’s Max Tadvick won the state championship in Boys Singles, and Ashley Smyser and Spencer Lin won the state championship in Mixed Doubles at the UIL 4A State Tennis Tournament in May.
The state Mixed Doubles championship was an all-Wylie affair as Ashley and Spencer played their Wylie teammates – Emly Corn and Jared Clemmer, who took home the silver medals.
Kaitlyn Hathorn lost in the state semifinals to round out the Wylie state contingent.
Tadvick started off the state tournament a little shaky, losing his first set 2-6. But he came back strong to win that match with 6-1, 6-2 victories in the next two sets. That first set would be the only one that was close for Tadvick in the rest of the tournament.
In the semifinals, Tadvick cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 victory, and in the state championship game, he won in straight sets 6-3, 6-4.
The gold medal was the third for Tadvick in his four years at Wylie. He won gold in mixed doubles two years ago and gold in boys’ doubles a year ago. This year’s gold gave him the trifecta – a gold medal in each of the three draws.
Ashley and Spencer were the underdogs coming into the Mixed Doubles Championship. Teammates Emly and Jared had beat them in both the district championship and in the regional championship, so the two teams knew each other well.
The state championship match proved to be a thriller. Ashley and Spencer won the first set 6-2, but Emly and Jared came back to win the second set 6-4. Ashley and Spencer won the championship by beating their teammates 6-5 in the third set.
Kaitlyn, who is only a sophomore, won her first round match 6-3, 6-2, but fell in the second round 6-5, 6-0.
At the regional tournament, Max won the Boys Singles championship, and Kaitlyn earned a silver medal in Girls Singles.
Wylie tennis players who placed at regionals but just missed a state berth, were Noah Santee who took 3rd in Boys Singles; Andrea McMillan and Elle Schroeder who took 3rd in Girls Doubles, and Nikhil Kalla and Reese Allen took 3rd in the Boys Doubles.