Photo courtesy of Hoover Athletics
The Hoover High School boys tennis team finished second at the Class 7A state tournament April 19, 2022.
The Hoover High School tennis teams finished the season at the state tournament in April, with the boys finishing second and the girls placing fourth in the Class 7A competition.
Vestavia Hills swept the boys and girls state titles for the second time in school history. The boys racked up 57 points, with Hoover scoring 32 to Auburn’s 26 to grab second place. Vestavia’s girls scored 57 points. Auburn tallied 42, and Huntsville added 27. Hoover and James Clemens scored 11 to tie for fourth.
Isaac Hwangpo was the top performer for the Hoover boys, winning an individual state title in the No. 2 singles division. Hwangpo beat Huntsville’s Evan Williams 6-3, 6-1, earning the state win for the second straight year.
Hwangpo cruised through the first round, beating Enterprise’s Graham Andresss 6-1, 6-1. He had to work hard in the second round, rallying from losing the first set to beat John Michael Yanosky 1-6, 6-4, 10-7.
Three other Bucs advanced to the finals on the boys singles side. Samuel Sellers fell to Parker Free from Bob Jones in the No. 1 final, while Gavin Patton fell to Vestavia Hills’ Ryan Pearlman 6-4, 6-0 in the No. 3 final, and Matthew Hajazin dropped the No. 4 final to Kade Nelson from Vestavia, 6-4, 6-1.
The No. 1 doubles pair of Hwangpo and Patton reached the final as well, falling to Jake Anthony and Pearlman from Vestavia, 6-3, 6-3 in the final.
Sellers defeated John Lusk of Huntsville and Alma Bryant’s Christopher Garden to reach the final. Patton beat Jackson Roberds from Fairhope and Logan Thomas from Huntsville to advance to his final. Hajazin had to take down Auburn’s Ahnaf Hossain and Fairhope’s Ben Perry to get to the final as well.
In No. 5 singles, Jackson Plugge fell to Auburn’s Davis Jackson in the first round. Auburn’s Kevin Yan defeated Anthony Hill in the opening round of No. 6 singles as well.
At No. 1 doubles, Hwangpo and Patton outlasted Huntsville’s Lusk and Williams in a third-set tiebreaker, then defeated Auburn’s Kaleb Kirkland and Carter Chase to reach the final. Sellers and Hill dropped a match to Fairhope’s Roberts and Owen Brasher in the first round of No. 2 doubles. Hajazin and Krish Jaikumar won in a third-set tiebreaker in No. 3 doubles to win their opening round match.
Kristina Hwangpo secured most of the points for the Hoover girls, reaching the final in No. 3 singles. She blew past Alex McGill from Fairhope in the first round, then beat Kathryn Kirkland of Auburn in straight sets in the semifinals. Hwangpo suffered a tough loss to Vestavia’s Kate Morros in the final, 5-7, 6-4, 10-4.
In No. 4 singles, Abby Gobbels beat Fairhope’s Skylar Spinks in the opening round before losing to eventual champion Madison Standifer from Vestavia Hills in the semifinals. Sowmya Suresh won a match at No. 5, beating Fairhope’s Gioia Calzetta without dropping a game, before running into Vestavia’s Kenley Outzen, who went on to win the title.
Nia Settles fell to James Clemens’ Erin Olander in the opening round of No. 1 singles. At No. 2, Chinony3 Mbanugo fell to Camilla Bosman from Auburn in the first round. Rachel Yuan fell to Huntsville’s Lydia Clark in three sets in the opening round of No. 6.
Suresh and Yuan won their first-round match in No. 3 doubles, beating Fairhope’s Sarah Adams and Bonnie Bailey.
To reach the state tournament, both Hoover teams finished second at the Section 3 tournament the week prior.
