LITTLE ROCK — As long as he was running, Pulaski Academy sophomore Jake Jacoby was winning.
Jacoby won the high school overall boys singles tennis title Thursday at the Burns Park indoor tennis complex in North Little Rock, beating White Hall junior Cole Guy 6-3, 6-4. The match ended after 90 minutes when Guy’s return went wide down the left line.
“That’s probably the most lopsided it’s been, and it was still tense,” Jacoby said, adding that he had to hustle for the few openings Guy gave him. “He doesn’t really have any weaknesses.”
Both players struggled with their first serves throughout the match and netted most shots returned low and fast.After dropping the first set, Guy rallied with a 2-0 lead in the second set. But Jacoby gained a 5-4 lead after breaking Guy’s serve at deuce and watched his opponent miss long on the next point.
“He hadn’t given up or anything, but I just felt I had gotten over the hump,” Jacoby said of his second-set lead.
Jacoby led 40-30 in the final game before Guy’s miss.
Rogers sophomore Tiffany Tang defeated Little Rock Central senior Lindsey Liles 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 in the girls singles final. The two exchanged lofted shots for 2 hours, 42 minutes, with most points decided after dozens of volleys.
“Just had to stay consistent,” Tang said. “It was close throughout. I’m exhausted.”
Liles returned shots at angles that made Tang run just to get her racket on the ball at times, and built a 3-1 lead in the first set. But Liles began dumping short lob shots into the net, which allowed Tang to take the lead. After a dominant second set, nearly every shot Liles hit in the third set was returned by Tang.
“It’s hard to beat somebody that doesn’t miss,” Liles said.
Trailing 5-4 in the third set and holding serve, Liles missed both the right and left lines and then netted a return to fall 0-45. Tang closed out the match two points later with a hard return down the left line.
“In the end, she was able to hit about one more ball than me,” Liles said.
Sports, Pages 25 on 10/28/2011