GHS tennis coach Dexter Pearcy and his girls and boys tennis teams battled the elements in their first week of play. But that’s nothing new for high school netters, golfers, and football players in August, particularly in southern states like Arkansas. Thankfully, temperatures are moderating, good news for those prep athletes who perform in the great outdoors. But it wasn’t the heat that led to the cancellation of the season’s first match on the 19th. Instead, it was lightning.
Days earlier, Coach Pearcy talked with the Dog Pound about the new tennis season, citing returning experience and talent as the keys to another successful campaign in 2025. The coach has several players returning from last season, including one of his top girls doubles players – his own daughter – and several of his 2024 boys, including his top two singles players, Caleb Shaefer and Wesley Jarrell.
“We started on July 30th and had four or five practices in the morning just to shake the rust off,” said Pearcy, now in his six season as tennis coach, five of those as head coach. “Then we practiced in the afternoon to get acclimated to the heat. We tried to touch on the [fundamentals] a little every day then let them play a little at the end of each practice.
“We had a lot of kids come out this year who wanted to play, and I was really excited about the freshmen,” said the coach of the 13 ninth graders on his roster, eight girls and five boys. Pearcy will be assisted this season by volunteer coach Naomi Conley, who has fraternal twin daughters on the team, Molly and Macy, both freshmen.
Greenwood will play a home-and-home schedule with every other team in the conference, though some of those matches will be played at neutral sites due to travel limitations. Besides Greenwood, other league members include Alma, Farmington, Harrison, Siloam Springs, Russellville, Van Buren, and Shiloh Christian. The coaches will meet at the end of the regular season to determine seedings for the conference tournament to be played at Russellville High School and Arkansas Tech University on October 6-7.
“I have a positive outlook,” said the coach when asked about his assessment of the league race and Greenwood’s chance of qualifying for the state tournament. “Harrison is always strong, and Shiloh is really good. Farmington is okay too. But I think with the girls we have coming back and four of our boys back, we have a chance to make some strides. We took four kids to state last year, and we hope to have the same kind of success this year.”
Lady Bulldogs
The GHS girls include just one senior, Kylah Pearcy, and three juniors, Klaire Holland, Alivia Kittell, and Taelyn Martin. The sophomore class also has three members including Shealynn Mills, Madison Nguyen, and Charlie Vaughn. The largest class are freshmen Macy Conley, Molly Conley, Natalie Copher, Gracie Gibbs, Rylea Jones, Bristol Mott, Presley Travis, and Ana Rizzo.
Despite having just one senior, the Lady Bulldogs do have significant experience returning, starting with Kylah Pearcy, who lost only one regular season doubles match in 2024 in her first year as a GHS netter playing for her dad. Juniors Klaire Holland, Alivia Kittell, and Taelyn Martin also return after gaining experience as sophomores, with Martin joining Pearcy to form another winning duo, unbeaten through three matches so far. Kittell is Greenwood’s #1 singles player while Holland is playing on the #2 doubles team.
Greenwood’s three sophomores, Shealynn Mills, Madison Nguyen, and Charlie Vaughn are playing on the junior varsity squad, while freshman Molly Conley has cracked the varsity roster as the Lady Bulldogs’ #2 singles player. Likewise, ninth grader Gracie Gibbs is on the #2 doubles team, partnered with Klaire Holland.
Asked about his daughter, Kylah, who is also a star basketball player for Greenwood and probably the best female athlete on the tennis team, Coach Pearcy said she seems to have developed more of a love for tennis heading into her second season with the sport. “We were gone a lot this summer doing travel basketball, and she didn’t get to spend a lot of time playing tennis. She played a few times with her boyfriend (Arkansas Razorback football player Grant Karnes). But she seems to enjoy playing more than she did previously. Right now, she will probably be playing doubles again.” Kylah will be paired with Taelyn Martin to begin the season.
Alivia Kittell will make the move from junior varsity to varsity singles this season after being on the cusp of varsity play in 2024 behind two strong seniors in Harper Berg and Emma Koenigseder, both since graduated. “He game lends itself more to singles play,” said Pearcy. As for the #2 singles slot, the coach is turning to a promising freshman for help in Molly Conley.
“There’s definitely some talent in that ninth-grade group,” he said. “There are some tennis players in that group. Molly and Macy are both solid. Gracie Gibbs has performed well in practice and Bristol Mott has been good, so there are some decisions to be made. I think we have three doubles varsity spots locked up, but we’re looking for another one.” Pearcy added that the varsity lineup could change during the season depending on performance and results.
Bulldogs
The Greenwood boys also have just one senior, Wesley Jarrell, and one sophomore, Weston King. But the junior class is large with eight players including Sawyer Harry, Jon David Hefflin, Danh Nguyen, Lucas Roper, Caleb Schaefer, Thomas Veatch, Hayes Whitson, and Drew Williams. The freshmen class has five members, Dever Church, Abel Duvall, Reed Jones, Kaleb King, and Luke Mora.
Coach Pearcy has two experienced singles players returning from last season, including his #1 in Caleb Schaefer, a junior. Wesley Jarrell, the only senior boy on the team, also returns as the #2 singles player. Besides Schaefer, four of the returning juniors are playing varsity doubles with Sawyer Harry teamed with Hayes Whitson and Thomas Veatch paired with Danh Nguyen. The other juniors, Jon David Hefflin and Drew Williams, the team’s lone sophomore, Weston King, along with the five freshmen, are all playing junior varsity tennis to start the season.
“He really made strides toward the end of last year,” said Pearcy of Jarrell. “He’s a teenage boy and wants to hit the ball as hard as he can. But he started to understand the game a little better toward the end of last season, trying to play more under control, and from what I’ve seen so far that seems to have carried over. He’s a more mature tennis player.”
Asked about his junior class, Pearcy said, “There’s quite a bit of talent. We have three varsity guys back from last year. Caleb Schaefer was our #1 singles player. Thomas Veatch and Whitson Hayes both played varsity doubles last season. So, we have four guys coming back on the varsity team this year, four of our six. We’re competing for every spot all over again from scratch. But if it plays out like last year, we’re kind of looking at just two open spots.
“But we’ve got three new guys in that group (juniors),” he continued. “Danh Nguyen, Lucas Roper, and Drew Williams are all former basketball guys who wanted to try tennis, and they’ve done well. Sawyer Harry was JV last year but has grown a ton in his game. He looks really good. Jon David Hefflin was JV last year and he’s done well also.
Early Match Results
After Greenwood’s season opening match at home against Acorn was first delayed then cancelled due to lightning in the area, the GHS boys and girls hosted Lifeway Christian two days later on August 21st. When the dust settled, the visitors won the match, splitting with the Lady Bulldogs 2-2 while sweeping the GHS boys, 0-4. But the Greenwood junior varsity players had much more success, losing only one of ten matches.
In varsity girls action, Greenwood’s #1 singles player, Alivia Kittell, lost her match, 2-8. Freshman Molly Conley, the Lady Bulldogs’ #2 singles player, dropped her first varsity match, 4-8. In doubles play, Kylah Pearcy and Taelyn Martin teamed up for a lopsided 8-0 victory over their Lifeway opponents. Greenwood’s Klaire Holland and Gracie Gibbs also won their match in a tiebreaker, 9-8 (10-8).
For the Bulldogs, Caleb Schaefer lost his match, 2-8, while teammate Wesley Jerrell battled long and hard before falling, 8-9 (5-10). In doubles action, Greenwood’s Sawyer Harry and Hayes Whitson fell, 4-8, while the duo of Thomas Veatch and Danh Nguyen dropped their match, 5-8.
In junior varsity girls singles play, Briston Mott and Madi Nguyen won their matches, 7-5 and 6-1, respectively. In girls doubles the duo of Natalie Copher and Presley Travis won, 7-6 (12-10), Anna Rizzo and Rylea Jones won, 6-1, and Charlie Vaughn and Shealynn Mills prevailed, 7-5.
For the JV boys, Greenwood’s #3 singles player Kaleb King won his match, 6-3. In doubles play, partners Abel Duvall and Weston King won their match, 6-3, Jon David Hefflin and Drew Williams won, 6-0, Lucas Roper and Denver Church also won, 6-1, while the duo of Reed Jones and Luke Mora dropped their match, 3-6.
While this past Thursday’s scheduled match at Russellville was postponed due to rain, the GHS netters did play last Tuesday against both Harrison and Siloam Springs. The Russellville match has been rescheduled for September 30th. Tuesday’s three-way match was held in Siloam Springs and Greenwood lost both of its matches to the Goblins and Panthers by identical team scores of 3-5.
Against Harrison, Greenwood’s Alivia Kittell lost her singles match, 2-4, 2-4. Teammate Molly Conley also lost, 1-4, 3-5 (6-10). In doubles play, Kylah Pearcy and Taelyn Martin won their match, 4-0, 4-2. The duo of Klaire Holland and Gracie Gibbs also won their match, 5-3, 1-4 (11-9). For the Bulldogs, Caleb Schaefer won his singles match, 4-1, 4-0, while Wesley Jarrell lost, 2-4, 2-4. The GHS duo of Sawyer Harry and Hayes Whitson fell in a close match, 5-3, 2-4 (5-10). The Greenwood team of Thomas Veatch and Danh Nguyen fell, 0-4, 2-4.
Against Siloam Springs, Kittell won her singles match, 4-1, 4-1, while Conley dropped her match, 1-4, 4-2 (6-10). In girls doubles action, the team of Pearcy and Martin continued their early season winning streak, 4-0, 4-0. The duo of Holland and Gibbs lost, 0-4, 1-4. For the GHS boys, #1 Caleb Schaefer won his match, 4-0, 4-1, while Wesley Jarrell lost his match, 0-4, 2-4. The duo of Harry and Whitson lost their doubles match, 1-4, 1-4, while Veatch and Nguyen dropped their match, 0-4, 2-4.
The Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs will continue their season next week with road matches against both Farmington and Shiloh Christian played in Crawford County at Alma and Van Buren on Tuesday. Next Thursday they will host Alma at the Greenwood community courts starting at 3:30 p.m.