Marble Falls tennis’ Womack is regional champ, advances to state

CAPTION: Marble Falls sophomore Cooper Womack wears the gold medal that comes with winning the Class 4A Region IV tournament. Courtesy photo

Marble Falls High School sophomore tennis player Cooper Womack is the Class 4A Region III boys singles champion May 11 to advance to the Class 4A state tournament.

The state tournament is May 16-17 at the Annemarie Tennis Center, 7001 Culebra Road in San Antonio.

Womack, who was seeded No. 2, defeated Waco Robinson’s Kaden Slider, the tournament’s No. 1 seed, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 for the championship. The seeds are determined by records during the regular season.

The two players faced each other last fall during the Class 4A team tennis playoffs where Slider prevailed 6-0, 6-1.

“In the championship match is where I think (Womack) made the most growth,” Marble Falls head coach Samuel Whitley said. “He went out in the first set and played aggressive. He played to win the match. In the second set fairly early on, he started playing not to lose. He hit deep and didn’t have pace on the ball. He wasn’t hitting the ball as hard as Kaden was. Kaden is a good player. You give him a shot to put it away, he puts it away.”

Once the second set finished, Whitley, who wants his players to think for themselves, asked Womack to analyze the differences between the first and second sets. The Mustang didn’t hesitate to answer.

“I’m playing timid,” Whitley recalled hearing. “I’m not hitting the ball hard enough. I need to go back to what I was doing in the first set.”

After that, the match was virtually done.

“He recognized you play to win, you don’t play to lose,” the coach said. “That third set was over pretty quick. You’re either hitting the ball hard or you’re not. They were pushing each other, waiting for the other guy to make a mistake. When Cooper made a shot that brought him to the net, Kaden took advantage of it. Cooper stopped giving him the easy shots. He started pushing him.”

Womack took a first-round bye then cruised to a 6-0, 6-1 victory against Kilgore’s Andrew Wood May 10 in the second round.

“In that first match was absolute perfection,” Whitley said.

That meant playing two matches May 11. The Mustang best Huffman Hargrave’s Dylan Leps 7-6 (7-5), 6-0 in the semifinals to earn the right to face Slider in the championship.

“When his opponents changed strategy, Cooper changed,” Whitley said. “No doubt Cooper is a good player. His level of play has really gone up in the past six months. His serve has gone up. He’s learning to play tall. He’s attacking the net.”

The coach pointed out another area of growth that led to Womack’s regional success.

“He’s a sophomore who made it to regionals last year,” he said. “He lost in the first round because of the pressure last year. It kind of overwhelmed him. This year he went in accustomed to the pressure. This year, he went in and executed the game plan.”

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CAPTION: Marble Falls tennis head coach Samuel Whitley (left) and sophomore Cooper Womack celebrate a regional championship in boys singles. Courtesy photo