No. 1 singles and doubles take first, girls tennis takes state

Westside girls varsity tennis coach Kim Gradoville, who is going to coach tennis at the College of St. Mary next season and will thus step down as the Westside coach, is headed out on top, as the girls varsity tennis team won Westside’s second state championship in as many days.

Led by junior Sydney Harlow at No. 1 singles, and by senior McKinney Harwood and sophomore Lizzie Harwood at No. 1 doubles, Westside overcame Marian, the defending champion, putting all four of its singles players and doubles pairs into the semifinals to take the team state tournament.

Harlow, who reached the semifinals by winning her first two matches, which took place Thursday, May 22, 6-0, 6-0, beat Millard North’s Olivia Faulk 6-0, 6-0 in the semifinals Friday, May 23. Harlow then faced off against Lincoln East’s Kaley Clark in the finals.

Harlow got off to a quick start in the match, taking a 3-0 lead in the first set. Then, Clark responded by win three of the next four games. But those three games were Clark’s only game wins of the match. Harlow proceeded to win the next two games to take set one, then was simply too much for Clark, sweeping the second set to take the Class A No. 1 singles state title.

“It feels good because two years ago I got third, and last year I got second and this year I wasn’t expecting anything less of myself than one, because I’ve worked really hard for three years to finally end up on top,” Harlow said. “It worked out.”

Meanwhile, the Harwood sisters, who took second in state at No. 1 doubles last season, reached the semifinals by winning their first two matches 6-1, 6-1 and 6-1, 6-2. In the semifinals, the Harwoods beat Marian’s No. 1 doubles team 6-1, 6-3.

Facing Papillion-La Vista in the finals, the Harwoods jumped out to a 4-1 game lead in the first set before winning the next two games and the set (6-1). In the second set, the Harwoods did the exact same thing, taking that set 6-1 to win the Class A No. 1 doubles state title. The title was McKinney’s second in three years, as she won at No. 1 doubles in 2012.

Gradoville said winning the two titles at No. 1 singles and doubles along with the team trophy hadn’t happened recently, and thinks Harlow and the Harwood’s runner-up titles last season helped them win the tournaments this year.

“You know, last year, not coming through in those finals, and they were both close matches, obviously you really want to win those, and what it added was some extra fuel for working hard in the offseason and how to practice the entire season this year,” Gradoville said. “I think them finishing second last year actually helped them finish first this year, because it gave them more motivation to come back and get the title they wanted so badly last year.”

The two victories helped Westside win the team title with 46 points. Papillion-La Vista took second place with 38 points, while Marian failed to put any of its competitors in the finals, putting them in third with 37 points.

The win gave Gradoville her sixth girls state championship in 14 seasons of coaching at Westside.

“It’s always special when it’s your last opportunity to do it in this position, so it’s great to know that we reached our goals, and as hard as I’ve worked to coach the team and as hard as they’ve worked to reach the goals that we were able to achieve,” Gradoville said. “It’s just icing on the cake, so to speak.”

Westside Wired would like to congratulate the girls varsity tennis team on its victory and a successful season. Thanks for giving us an exciting season to cover!