Photos courtesy of Nilam Patel and Dilberlyn Garcia Gonzalez.
The Hoover High School boys and girls tennis teams competed at the Class 7A state tournament on April 21, 2026.
Hoover High School’s Hannah Hwangpo arrived at the Class 7A state tennis tournament at the Mobile Tennis Center as one of the top players in the field, and she left as the No. 1 singles champion.
The junior beat Huntsville’s Mazie MacGrotty 3-6, 6-3, 10-8 in the championship match, rallying after dropping the first set to claim the individual title. MacGrotty was one of the toughest opponents in the draw, entering the final with just one loss over her last 37 matches across two seasons. Hwangpo had worked her way through a competitive bracket to get there, beating St. Paul’s Emma Jane Hamilton in the semifinals 2-6, 6-4,10-7.
The Hoover boys put together an equally impressive week, finishing tied for second in the team standings with 29 points behind champion Vestavia Hills (35). Senior Brady Conti and senior Diego Harris were the standouts, winning the No. 1 doubles title together. They beat Bob Jones’ Cam Watson and Nathan Chiu in the semifinals before taking the championship match over Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa’s Griffin Armstrong and Ryan Mathewson 7-6(6), 6-4. Harris also reached the No. 3 singles final, falling to Auburn’s Tony Park in three sets, 2-6, 6-4, 10-6, after winning his semifinal against Vestavia’s Alex Nelson.
Junior Shiv Jaikumar reached the No. 2 singles semifinals and teamed with eighth-grader Matthew Hwangpo in the No. 2 doubles bracket, where they won their opening match before falling to Vestavia’s Andrew Pipkin and John Brooks Harris in a tight three-set semifinal. Eighth-grader Matthew Hwangpo also had a strong singles run at No. 5, winning his opening match and reaching the final before falling to Montgomery Academy’s Bo Johnston. Sophomore Stephen Sellers reached the No. 6 singles semifinals. Senior Brady Conti competed at No. 1 singles as well.
The Hoover girls finished fifth in the team standings with 9 points. Senior Alaina Sanders competed at No. 4 singles, winning her first-round match before falling to Huntsville’s Sophie Shearburn.
Senior Irfa Porbanderwala lost her first-round match at No. 5 singles in three sets. Junior Anna Claire Cencula competed at No. 3 singles.
Hoover High School junior Hannah Hwangpo won the Class 7A No. 1 singles title at the state tournament in Mobile on April 21, rallying from a first-set loss to defeat Huntsville’s Mazie MacGrotty 3-6, 6-3, 10-8 in the championship match.
Hwangpo and Cencula teamed in No. 1 doubles, winning their opening match and reaching the semifinals before being eliminated by the eventual champions from St. Paul’s.
Sanders and sophomore Alice Moon also competed in No. 3 doubles.
Sophomore Saharsh Prasanna and sophomore Adithya Mohanraj teamed in No. 3 doubles on the boys side, winning their first-round match before being eliminated.
