Bees dominate with team and doubles wins at Regional tennis tourney

FAIRMONT — It’s always a good sign when you have one player that qualifies for a state tournament. It’s even better, though, when four of your top athletes hit the mark.

After two days of the West Virginia Region I AA/A high school tennis tournament, the East Fairmont boys’ tennis team has now secured both a team championship, a doubles championship, and have punched four tickets to the 2025 state tennis tournament.

Bees’ athletes Hunter Bragg, Haydyn Dudash, Kollin Maxey and Isaiah Ferrell, put in strong performances in regional play, and have automatically qualified for the state tournament. Bragg and Dudash, longtime doubles partners, defeated Maxey and Ferrell in the doubles championships Tuesday evening, and earned first place in the competition.

As a unit, the Bees battled their way to a consecutive regional team championship after defeating North Marion by a score of 4-0 in the semifinal round on Monday, and went on to beat Keyser 4-0 in the championship match Monday evening.

With storms predicted to continue throughout the next few days, the singles competitions, which are currently scheduled for Wednesday at John Marshall High, will remain at that location providing all goes well with the weather. If rain becomes a factor, the matches are set to be moved indoors at “The Bubble” at Wheeling Park High.

East Fairmont head coach Scott Reed, who has consistently praised each of his guys all season for their tenacity and ability to positively perform on the biggest stage, took to social media, however, to share what has been a driving factor for himself and his guys throughout the year.

“I’d like to mention that we have played this entire season for the late East Fairmont tennis legend Rod Anselene,” Reed said. “I played against Rod’s teams when I was in high school, when he was the coach for North Marion at the time. I then played for him for four seasons at Fairmont State. We stayed close after all these years and he was very supportive of myself and the program, helping out in any way that he could.”

“My mantra as a coach has always been 'Just Win,' meaning no excuses, just get the job done. I’d rather win ugly than lose pretty. Winners focus on winning, losers focus on winners. Anselene’s mantra was 'Win Today,' which meant to win in all phases of your life: at home, at school, at your job, and in athletics. Even though this season is not over, we wanted to recognize and dedicate this season and Regional Championship to Coach Rod.”

Senior standout and current No. 1 ranked player Hunter Bragg also had words of praise for his teammates after their impressive performances through the past 48 hours. He noted that to the team, nothing was more important than protecting a title.

“Our team has had a solid appearance so far at regionals,” Bragg said. “The first day of regionals was the team competition portion, and coming in as the defending champions from last season, we wanted to protect our title. I feel all six of our players were locked in and took care of business. We all get to head back to state next week for another opportunity to play at a higher level. This was our goal and I feel blessed and thankful to God for this team accomplishment.”

Bragg also shouted out his doubles partner, Haydyn Dudash, stating that their second straight doubles championship is one that they both take pride in and feel is a reflection of the success the team as a whole has had all season long.

“As the defending doubles champs, Haydyn and I wanted to keep that title,” Bragg said. “I’m proud to say that we are back-to-back doubles champions, and even better, our fellow No. 2 seed doubles players, Kollin and Isaiah, are the runners-up in the region. That means all four of us punched tickets for doubles at state. We’ll wrap up with the singles portion today, and I hope myself and my fellow teammates do well.”

In 2024, Bragg finished regional play as the singles runner-up by winning 11 of 12 matches that day before dropping his only loss in the finals. This year, he hopes to bring home more hardware, not just for himself, but for a Bees’ team that is on a mission and hungry for a state title.

With Regionals set to wrap up Wednesday, regardless of weather conditions due to the potential change in location, the W.Va. state tennis tournament is currently scheduled to begin on May 15. As it stands, East Fairmont will be well-represented, not just on the court, but the sidelines as well.



* This article was originally published here

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