Phelps, Wiedenfeld win singles crowns for Nederland tennis

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Phelps, Wiedenfeld win singles crowns for Nederland tennis

By Tom Halliburton

The Port Arthur News

VIDOR -- Jessica Phelps may not have looked quite ready to scare Maria Sharapova or Serena Williams but nobody in District 22-4A could offer much resistance.

  The Nederland senior improved to 25-4 and easily appeared to be the class of the girls singles bracket on a bizarre weather day at the District 22-4A tennis championships.

  The top-seeded Phelps rolled by Little Cypress-Mauriceville senior Amanda George, 6-2, 6-1. She had plowed through her previous opponents without losing a set, either, and she led a convincing list of Nederland regional qualifiers.

  Second-seeded Bulldogs junior Ben Wiedenfeld joined Phelps as a singles champ in the boys division, knocking off top-seeded LC-M junior Jude Layne, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in the championship match. NHS standout mentor Jorge Lopez had room on the bus for two more district champions. Solid-as-a-rock, UT-bound Rushi Sukhavasi and James Morua made good on their No. 1 seed by defeating fellow Nederlanders Drew Dusong and Aaron Elizondo in the boys doubles final, 6-1, 6-4.

  When the 4A regional tournament convenes Apr. 23-24 at Huntsville's McAdams Tennis Center, two more sets of doubles champs will be assured of their regional trips. Vidor's unseeded duo of Brittany Crossley and Kayla Williamson defeated the No. 1-seeded LC-M pair of Jenny Collins and Stephanie Scheer, 6-3, 6-2, to capture the girls doubles title. Laura Chapman and Cory Odom claimed an all-Lumberton mixed doubles title match by defeating Brittany Guyton and David Muha, 1-6, 7-5, 6-4.

  Four more regional qualifying berths will be settled this afternoon on Vidor's courts at 1 p.m. Only LC-M senior Amanda George was assured of a regional berth on Wednesday as girls singles runner-up. She found it difficult to contend with Phelps, whose good variety on her returns and solid placement of her serves looked obvious. The LC-M challenger was never able to break the serve of Phelps, who plans to keep playing college tennis, most likely at Lamar.

  "I didn't play as well as I wanted to," the NHS senior said. "I played allright. I just tried to keep it as low as I could."

  Phelps has battled shoulder tendinitis since she transferred from West Brook last summer. She said the shoulder prevented her from being able to serve harder. Like an effective baseball pitcher, though, the standout Nederland singles star knew exactly where to place her serves -- deep and in the corners.

  "She lost in the Galveston finals but she beat several good players to get there," Lopez said of his prize pupil. "She probably has the best chance to reach state of anyone from our district."

  Lopez has worked with Phelps on her game over the past three summers. Phelps said the former LU tennis great has strengthened her mental game.

  "He's been helping me mentally for sure," Jessica said. "He's always helping me to try to stay positive... The biggest thing I need to improve is my footwork."

  The 18-year-old Phelps dealt with a most insane day of tennis weather. When tennis players arrived before their first-round matches at 9 a.m., they figured it looked like rain. Of course it was cold, too. By the time Jessica and LC-M's George played in the finals, the temperature practically neared the 90-degree mark.

  The late afternoon heat may have affected the boys title match, because Nederland's Wiedenfeld and LC-M's Layne played a third set which mirrored the two previous ones. The tall NHS junior led 3-0 in the final set, only to see the determined LC-M junior battle back to 3-2. Wiedenfeld closed out the match, though, by winning three of the last four games. He broke Layne's serve three times in the final set.

  "I was tired the whole time (in the final set) and trying not to show it," Wiedenfeld said. "He (Layne) was showing it too, though. It was pretty hot, yet it was cold this morning."