SINGLES PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Graham Hardin
SCHOOL Bentonville West
CLASS Junior
HEIGHT 5-9
NOTABLE Captured 6A-West Conference boys singles championship after beating Harrison Deer of Rogers 7-5, 7-5 in the finals. ... Reached the finals of the Overall Tournament before falling 6-4, 6-3 to Ethan Richardson of Jonesboro. ... Also finished second at Class 6A state tournament. ... Helped Bentonville West finished second at the state tournament. ... Enjoys traveling, especially in the summer when he's playing in tennis tournaments around the country and vacationing with family in the Caribbean.
THAT'S WHAT HE SAID "I'm definitely happy with this year. It's an improvement over last year when I got third in conference, third in state, and didn't qualify for the Overalls. So, last year wasn't that great. But I put in a lot time and was really locked in this season."
DOUBLES TEAM OF THE YEAR
SPENCER HOLLOWAY
SCHOOL Fayetteville
CLASS Junior
HEIGHT 6-1
NOTABLE Contributed heavily to Fayetteville's win in the Class 6A state tournament by teaming with Nordin to beat Boyce Read and Santiago Aguirre of Bentonville 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 in the boys doubles final. ... The Nordin/Holloway team also won conference and finished as state runners-up after falling 6-3, 7-6 to Read and Aguirre in the Overall Tournament.
THAT'S WHAT HE SAID "We played well. We played control tennis, meaning we didn't make any reckless mistakes, and we tried to stay ahead all the time. We played our game and stuck with it throughout the whole season.
JACOB NORDIN
SCHOOL Fayetteville
CLASS Junior
HEIGHT 6-0
NOTABLE Contributed heavily to Fayetteville's win in the Class 6A state tournament by teaming with Holloway to beat Boyce Read and Santiago Aguirre of Bentonville 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 in the boys doubles finals. ... The Nordin/Holloway team also won conference and finished as state runners-up after falling 6-3, 7-6 to Read and Aguirre in the Overall Tournament.
THAT'S WHAT HE SAID "This year was great. It was a two-peat for the (Fayetteville) team championship and you can not be upset about a two-peat. As far as next year, we'll be ready for that and, hopefully, have a chance at a three-peat."
All-NWADG BOYS SINGLES — Graham Hardin, Bentonville West.(NWA Democrat-Gazette/Spencer Tirey)Spencer Tirey