SPRINGDALE — When Jake Sweeney and Conor Clardy faced one another earlier in the season, things were a bit lighter between the lines.
Sweeney, a freshman for Fayetteville, and Clardy, a sophomore for Springdale Har-Ber, practice and train together and also share a close friendship away from the tennis courts. But Friday, with the 7A-West boys singles championships on the line, both were zoned in.
The Purple’Dogs freshman, though, was able to come away with a 6-1, 6-2 victory to earn the 7A-West’s boys singles top seed in the upcoming class 7A state tournament. Wind on the Har-Ber campus was swirling throughout the day, and Sweeney knew playing it right would be a big factor.
“I just wanted to stay aggressive,” said Sweeney, who did not lose a point in his first round match Thursday. “I just tried to stay positive and aggressive. I’d played Conor a couple of times before. But that was the main thing.”
“This time I think we took it a bit more seriously,” he added. “It really just felt like playing someone I really didn’t know.”
Sweeney’s win was one of three conference titles grabbed by Fayetteville on the day. Mary Houston defeated Rogers High’s Erica Jaggernaut in the girls singles final and the Purple’Dogs’ doubles team of Runnels/Mason took first place as well. The freshman’s singles title kicked off what would become an overall team championship for Fayetteville.
Clardy, who said he had a pair of fairly easy first and second round matches Thursday, entered the finals playing well, knocking off Hayden Shoemake of Bentonville West 6-3, 6-1 in the semifinals. Sweeney, however, became the aggressor in the finals, he said.
“I thought I was playing alright,” said Clardy, who shares a fantasy football league with Sweeney. “I wasn’t very offensive, and I let Jake be offensive and let him push me back a lot. I was giving him too many opportunities to come in and I feel like that’s where I lost the match.”
Rogers’ girls doubles team of Caroline Long/Brittany Matthews helped the Lady Mounties claim the girls team conference championship. Long and Matthews took down Bentonville West’s duo of Avery Hargrove and Sarah Schneringer, 6-3, 6-2.
Sweeney said he is excited to represent the 7A-West and Fayetteville in the state tournament in central Arkansas.
“It’s pretty cool,” he said. “There are a couple of good players down in Little Rock, so I’m looking forward to playing them. It’ll be a lot of fun.”