FHS, Rogers share conference title

FAYETTEVILLE -- The 7A-West Conference Boys' Tennis Tournament came down to three teams battling for a chance to share the final two spots for a piece of the championship. In a race down to the final wire, Rogers High and Fayetteville were the last two standing, as the Mounties and Bulldogs each scored 11 team points to finish as co-champions at the 7A-West Tournament finals on Friday at the Fayetteville Bulldog tennis complex. Rogers used a strong run from Michael Zheng in boys' singles to lead its drive to the title. Zheng won 6-1, 6-1 over Jake Keefauver of Bentonville in the semifinals, then capped off his individual title with a 6-2, 7-5 win against Sriker Chikkala of Bentonville in the finals. "I knew (the team race) was really close and I knew I needed to pull this one out in the last match to win," Zheng said. "It was fun because it was more a challenge, there was more on the line and I had my teammates there to support me." Rogers knew entering the finals matches a Zheng win coupled with a Bentonville loss in the boys' doubles finals would give the Mounties a share of the conference crown. What other coaches were unaware of most of the afternoon was who could possibly end up tied with Rogers. While it was believed for much of the day to be a two-team race with Rogers and Bentonville, it was actually Fayetteville who snuck back into a tie for first at the end thanks to some early round singles points along with a big finale in doubles' play. Hans Corbell and Cannon Kern of Fayetteville, the No. 3-seeded team in doubles, rallied from a slow start in the opening set and picked up the must-have victory for the Bulldogs over top seeds Ryan Hargrove and Jack Neal of Bentonville, 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 in the finals match. "During the season it was really difficult when we played (Hargrove and Neal)," Kern said. "We just wanted to stay focused in our match and we wanted to beat them. That was our motivation." Fayetteville trailed 5-4 in the first set of the doubles final, before turning things in its own favor. "Hans Corbell stepped up and played best he's played in high school tennis," Fayetteville coach Darin Phelan said. "He started ripping returns and hitting serves, and he was possessed. I don't know what he was possessed with, but it worked. "Just unbelievable. Starting (Friday) I didn't think we had a chance, but our doubles team came up with some big points and it was a nice surprise there at the end." For Rogers, the conference title is the first for the Mounties in boys' tennis in more than 20 years and will provide a big momentum boost heading into the state tournament. "It's always great to be conference champs," Rogers boys' tennis coach Mike Harper said. "I was glad to see our doubles team come back and get a win today, that was big for them. And going into the state tournament we have a chance to be very competitive there and if our kids show up there we even have a chance to win."

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FHS, ROGERS SHARE CONFERENCE TITLE

VERNON TARVER

NWADG | 10/10/2015

PHOTO CREDIT: Fayetteville Athletics