Faulkner State claims state tennis titles in No. 1 singles, doubles

 

Faulkner State Community College's Matthew Steele, left, of Daphne won the Alabama Community College Conference tournament in No. 1 singles and was also named the tournament's MVP. Steele teamed up with Weston Hamil, right, of Spanish Fort to win the No. 1 doubles title.

 

BAY MINETTE, Alabama -- Faulkner State Community College tennis players Matthew Steele and Weston Hamil earned top honors at last month's state tournament.
Steele, a Daphne High grad, claimed the No. 1 singles title and teamed up with Weston, a Spanish Fort High alumnus, to win No. 1 doubles in the Alabama Community College Conference tournament on April 21-22 in Decatur. Overall, the FSCC men's tennis team finished third.
Steele was named the tournament's most valuable player.
Behind the strong play of Steele, a Daphne High grad, and Weston, a Spanish Fort High alumnus, the FSCC men's tennis team finished third in the team standings. Steele earned the No. 1 singles title and teamed up with Weston to win No. 1 doubles in the Alabama Community College Conference on April 21-22 in Decatur.
The Lady Sun Chiefs finished in third place overall with Carnesha McConnell coming in second in No. 4 singles play and Cheyenne Myers earning second place in No. 6 singles.
Coach Ritchie Dulaney's men ended tournament play behind Gadsden and Marion Military.
Steele entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed and eventually defeated Gadsden's Daniel Little 6-0, 3-6, 6-2 in the final.
"Matthew went undefeated in conference play to gain the top seed," Dulaney said. "He is an exciting player to watch. You can never count him out of a match. He lost the first set in several matches during the year yet came back to win them all.
"Matthew does a great job of pushing his teammates to take their game to the next level. Having a player of his caliber to practice against has definitely helped his teammates too," the coach said.

Steele shows off his Most Valuable Player award after winning the No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles in the state tournament. Steele and Hamil will compete in the NJCAA National Tournament on May 16-20 at Collin County Community College in Plano, Texas.

Steele and Hamil, who are both freshmen, defeated Gadsden's top team of Little and Colt Kelley 1-6, 6-4, and 10-0 in the tiebreaker. Steele was also named the tournament's most valuable player.
Dulaney said her team was very young this year and she foresees good things next year.
"As a team, we really struggled this season with few team wins," she said. "They played hard and worked hard. I will only be losing a few guys from this team next year and I think we will be much stronger next year."
Sophomore Nolan McCollum alternated at the No. 6 singles seed and sophomore Seth Calazas missed several matches due to a biking injury. Calazas did end the season in the player the No. 3 singles position. Both sophomores added a lot to our team with strong work ethics and determination."
Dulaney listed her lineup as Steele in the No. 1 position, Hamil at the No. 2 singles place, Calazas No. 3 and Kyle Tettleton in the No. 4 slot. Gregory Grimes played No. 5 singles and Ty Copeland, in the No. 6 spot, rounded out the singles.
"Kyle Tettleton didn't play in the state tourney and McCollum moved into the lineup," Dulaney said.
Since Faulkner State did not qualify as a team for the National Junior College Athletic Association's Men's Tennis National Championship tournament, which is set for May 16-20 in Texas, they will not participate in the event, Dulaney said, citing school policy.
-- LARRY WHITE, Correspondent