SPRINGDALE -- Caity Townsend had never played tennis before Merscedez Ruiz convinced her to pick up a racket three weeks before tryouts for Springdale High's team in the spring of 2012.
The eighth-graders went through a few weeks of hard workouts with Ruiz' father and brother to try to prepare for tryouts with the high school team.
At A Glance
Merscedez Ruiz and Caity Townsend
School: Springdale High
Class: Juniors
Notable: Started playing varsity tennis for Springdale as freshmen attending Central Junior High. … Ruiz is 3-3 in No. 1 singles this year. … Townsend is 6-0 in No. 2 singles. … The duo is 3-2 in No. 1 doubles.
"We practiced like every day," Townsend said.
Not only did they make the team, they earned a spot on the varsity roster and played as freshmen, a rarity in the 7A-West. Two years later, they've become co-captains and are Springdale's top two players.
A lot has changed since 2012.
Townsend and Ruiz don't have to wait outside Central Junior High for the varsity bus to come pick them up for matches anymore. They've gone from being the youngest players on the team to the most successful.
"It's not as scary," Ruiz said. "We've gotten comfortable."
The duo was voted co-captains by their teammates last week, an honor fitting the Lady Bulldogs' top doubles team and Nos. 1 and 2 singles players.
Ruiz is Springdale's unquestioned top singles player and has a 3-3 record in No. 1 singles this year. Townsend is unbeaten in No. 2 singles, starting the season 6-0, an impressive feat for someone who didn't take up tennis until recently.
"She's a natural," coach Britt James said of Townsend. "When she came and tried out, you don't see too many southpaws. Very few left-handed good players on the high school level. I told her, 'You've got a really nice swing, you just need some repetition.'"
The duo played doubles together their first two years on varsity, but that is changing somewhat this year. They've still played together in five of six matches, going 3-2, but the plan is to tinker with the lineup in preparation for conference.
Ruiz played well with Emma Jaeger on Monday against Rogers Heritage. Townsend may play with Jaeger in the next match.
The shuffling is to determine the best fit since players can only play doubles or singles in the conference tournament. In the past they would've stuck with doubles, but Townsend's singles success may change that.
"It's going to be ongoing," James said of the decision. "Because right now, Caity's playing so well in singles, she probably thinks, 'I'm halfway through my junior season and I'm undefeated.' She might want to play singles."
The other end of the spectrum is this is the best they've played as a doubles team in their three years as partners.
"This year, they played the No. 1 team against Rogers and they were up 6-3, but they lost five straight and lost the match," James said. "I asked what happened. And they said, 'We got overconfident.' They knew what they did. They thought they had them beat and they let up. But they were right there. That's the No. 1 team."
The loss showcased their potential against one of the top teams in the state. But they've largely had success this year whether playing singles, doubles together or doubles separate.
And this season already includes their fondest memory playing Springdale tennis -- a win over crosstown rival Springdale Har-Ber in August. Townsend and Ruiz each won their singles matches and teamed up for a doubles win as the Lady Bulldogs beat Har-Ber for the first time in their careers.
"It was awesome," Townsend said.
Sports on 09/11/2014