Faith Academy tennis is regional runner-up

CAPTION: The 2025 Faith Academy of Marble Falls tennis team includes Kate Green (front row, left), Alyana Reyes, Ella Lewis, Emerson Price, Jaden Turrentine, Halley Offutt; head coach Rich Coleman (back row, left), Jason Kennedy, Ever Bigtree, Witten Reinert, Grant Nagle, Luke Patterson and assistant coach Aland Price. Not pictured is Brandon Wood. Contributed photo

The Faith Academy of Marble Falls tennis team is the runner-up at the Class 3A South Regional championship of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Sports April 2.

The Flames and Lady Flames earned 29.5 and 30.5 points, respectively. That also showcases the number of individual regional championships Faith played in or won in boys and girls singles and doubles.

In all, six Lady Flames and four Flames advance to the Class 3A state tournament, which is Wednesday and Thursday, April 8-9, at the Waco Regional and Fitness Center, 900 Lake Shore Drive in Waco..

“It’s a great group of kids,” first-year head coach Rich Coleman said. “Most of them train all year. We are led by some really great juniors and seniors, who have a lot of experience. They know how to handle the competition. They’ve played a lot of good private schools and public schools. They were prepared for for the level of competition they’d face. They train against bigger schools.”

Faith’s top doubles teams took home regional titles thanks to winning three matches after receiving first-round byes. They are Grant Nagle and Luke Patterson in boys doubles and Halley Offut and Jaden Turrentine in the girls division.

The Lady Flames lost a total of four games during the tournament.

Faith Academy’s top singles players, Ever Bigtree in the boys bracket and Emerson Price in the girls bracket, received first-round byes and had to win two matches to reach the championship. Price lost to Keystone School’s Zoe Wang 1-8 in the championship. Bigtree lost to Waco Live Oak’s Cairo Sterns 1-8.

Coleman said the entrants received their byes from their seedings based on their season and head-to-head records.

Waco Live Oak won the regional championship. Live Oak and Faith Academy already have a rivalry in football and basketball. And Coleman could see another one brewing on the hard courts.

“There are some very good teams in the north,” Coleman said. “We’re confident we can do it. We’re excited.”

RESULTS

Class 3A South Tournament

BOYS

Singles

Ever Bigtree lost to Cairo Sterns 1-8 in the championship, def. Jackson Pullman 8-1 and Conner Russel 8-1. Witten Reinert def. Edwin Martinez 8-0, Brian Sublette 8-2 and lost to Cairo Sterns 1-8 and to Jackson Pullman 3-8 to finish fourth.

Doubles

Nagle and Patterson def. Pahmiyer and Coburn 8-0, Price and Coburn 8-2, Tijerina and Rizvi 8-3. Kennedy and Wood def. Ohmes and Pickle 8-3; lost to Simpson and Sneller 4-8, Flack and Reidel 9-10, and Prazak and Ren 0-8

GIRLS

Singles

Emerson Price lost to Zoe Wang 1-8 in the championship, def. Dagny Anderson 8-5 in the semifinals and Avery Miller 8-5 in the quarterfinals. Kate Green lost to Audrey Pahmiyer 0-8 and to Avery Miller 1-8; def. Lillian Wenger 8-3 and Morgan Scott 8-5.

Doubles

Offut and Turrentine def Dupu and Sneller 8-2 in the championship, Becker and Shell 8-2, and George and Hall 8-0. Lewis and Reyes def. Nieto Trevino 8-3, Killman and Lippe 8-1, lost to Dupu and Sneller 5-8 and to Becker and Shell to finish fourth.