Article By Greg Jaklewicz
After a strong week in Lubbock, Wylie High tennis now turns its focus toward San Antonio with state tournament hopes still alive.
Coach Adam Cherry took nine varsity players to McLeod Tennis Center, home of the Texas Tech tennis team, for last week’s regional tournament. The state tournament begins May 7.
The regional group included junior Hope Willis, who won the Class 5A girls singles title last year. Her win was the first in girls singles at the Class 5A level for Wylie tennis.
A year ago, the mixed doubles duo of Kate Delgado and Steven Cowling also qualified for the 5A state meet. They won their first-round match before falling in three sets in the quarterfinals.
While Willis entered regional play as a favorite to return to the Alamo City, hopes were that a group of her teammates would join her.
“We realistically have a chance to get a lot of kids to state,” Cherry said.
District Success Set the Stage
Wylie scored three District 4-5A championships out of five chances to win team titles. Willis won girls singles, the team of Lili Owens and Jordyn Perry took girls doubles, and the boys doubles duo of James McCall and Witten Sides claimed the championship.
Kiley Hirsch and Talan Baker were second in mixed doubles while the pairing of Arabella Dlugiewicz/Mia Amor Martinez were the girls doubles runnerup.
The nine qualifying players were one more than in 2025.
Taking medals but not advancing were Tyler Hawks, third in boys singles, and the boys doubles team of Cowling and Wyatt Gilreath.
Hawks was a No. 6 seed and pulled off a big win to advance to the semifinals. He is a regional alternate.
Cherry was disappointed Cowling-Gilreath didn’t advance, saying they probably are the third best team in the region. They fell to Krew Luxton-Hayes Clark of Wichita Falls Legacy in the semifinals. According to Clark, the Legacy duo came in undefeated in 20 spring matches.
“Other than that, I was very pleased with how things went,” Cherry said.
New UIL Format
Last year, the UIL for the first time allowed the top three finishers at the regional meet to advance to state, expanding the field to 12 players. Regional winners get a bye. They would play three matches to win a title; the other eight qualifiers must advance from the round of 16 to the final.
“No more playbacks for state, and I kind of like that,” Cherry said. The semifinal losers play for the third state berth.
The upside for Cherry is that he could get more players to San Antonio; the downside is that more competition will come from, in particular, a talented Region II.
“It makes it harder to get a medal,” he said.
Strong Contenders Across the Board
Cherry believed the two boys doubles teams from 4-5A would be seeded 1-2, meaning a rematch for the regional title was possible.
“That match could go either way. The last time, we played really well,” Cherry said.
McCall-Sides last year lost in the quarterfinals to the third-place team from Lubbock-Cooper.
Cherry said McCall played exceptionally well at the district tournament, especially his serve return. The duo has played strong competition all year, and that is paying off.
Cherry believed one of his girls doubles teams could advance, with Owens-Perry perhaps landing a No. 3 regional seed going in.
“On a perfect day, we could finish second and third,” he said, optimistically.
And don’t count out the mixed doubles team, which had a high power ranking within the region.
As for Willis, Cherry said his top girls player is playing at a higher level than a year ago. She recently competed in the 58th Annual Easter Bowl USTA Junior Spring National at Indian Wells Tennis Garden in California. Willis played against the top-seeded player in doubles.
“Everything we made it in has a chance to make it to state,” Cherry said.
That is no surprise. As Wylie entered Class 5A, tennis was the sport that quickly established itself as a powerhouse. The Bulldogs last fall advanced to the team tennis state meet, losing in the semifinals to the eventual champion. Wylie was second the year before.
With Amarillo High, “We’re usually the best teams in Region I,” Cherry said.
Girls doubles: Arabella Dlugiewicz, senior
(Arabella Dlugiewicz)
Dlugiewicz is putting first things first.
As a senior, graduation is coming up. It won’t just be a walk-through for Dlugiewicz. She is third in her class.
She also is a UIL academic standout, starring in literary criticism and social studies. She has qualified for the regional meet in those contests.
Other involvement includes S2S, and “I lifeguard part-time,” she said, smiling.
It had been a busy few last months at school, she said, but last week, it was all about tennis.
Her partner, Martinez, is a junior, who will use the regional experience to build on for next year. They needed to win a playback to take second at the district meet.
They were paired together last year but did not advance.
Dlugiewicz has played tennis only since seventh grade. She joked that tennis sounded more fun than running a mile.
“I picked tennis because it sounded like the least amount of running,” she said. Later, she realized that she could run a mile or more on the court in a tough match.
She admitted that she wasn’t a standout player early on. But when she made the varsity, she realized she had ability and put in the work to improve. She even began lessons, which many tennis players begin at an earlier age.
“Honestly, I am so glad I picked it. I’ve had so much fun the last six years,” Dlugiewicz said.
This is her fourth year as a varsity player, and she played in her first regional tournament.
Dlugiewicz said her strength is playing at the net while Martinez is strong along the baseline.
Dlugiewicz said what’s makes them more formidable this year is having more energy on the court.
“This year it was definitely more energy. We were clicking more,” she said.
Dlugiewicz kept the week’s mission in perspective.
“It’s important, but it’s not everything,” the senior said. “I really want us to do well together … it’s more important that we play our best.”
She has plans to attend the University of Texas at Austin to study business. Maybe she will play intramural tennis but her time on the court will be more for recreation.
Her family watched her play in Lubbock. No one beside her plays tennis. She joked that they cheer even the routine stuff.
“But I appreciate all the support,” she said.
Boys doubles: Witten Sides, junior
(Witten Sides)
The team of Sides and McCall is in “three-peat” mode this year, Sides said. They have been a doubles duo since their freshman year, thus bringing a wealth of experience into the Region I-5A tournament.
They have made a great pair.
“James is more the scrapper. He gets to a lot of balls that you think he shouldn’t make,” Sides said.
His strength is serving.
“I rarely get broken,” Sides said. His own improvement has been in first-serve percentage.
McCall-Sides relies on his serving to overpower opponents.
Both players, Sides said, have gotten faster on the court.
“Better footwork,” he said. Ball placement is better, too.
Sides expected the Wylie duo to be the top seed at the regional tournament.
Sides said being the team to beat doesn’t add pressure. It’s more of a positive because it makes both players work harder.
“I want to work harder. I want to win faster. I want to win better,” he said.
Sides is one of those guys who lives on a tennis court. He plays in the summer, he plays on weekends. Say tennis and he’s there.
It would be easy to burn out or, at least, let up but that’s not him.
“Even if I have something to do, I’d rather play tennis,” he said, smiling. Sounds like a good bumper sticker.
“I’m just a tennis player,” he said.
As a junior, he has a year left. Cherry expects Wylie to go from really good to great next year, especially on the boys’ side. With a goal of playing at the collegiate level, Sides will be a go-to player. This year’s UIL spring run is the start of that success.
“I don’t know if I’m there right now,” Sides said of being a strong college player. That will drive him to improve.
“It’s within my grasp,” Sides said.
First up was winning a regional title and advancing to state.
Sides said his partner is confident, like he is. If there is a letdown, “He tries to keep me up, and I try to keep him up. Not to the point that it’s ridiculous but enough to keep our heads up high.”
Mixed doubles: Kiley Hirsch, sophomore
(Kiley Hirsch)
Wylie sent a new pairing to Lubbock in Hirsch and partner Talan Baker. She is a sophomore; he is one of two senior boys.
Hirsch said it was Baker’s idea last fall to play mixed doubles. They had played as a duo a bit last year but this would be the real deal. Cherry was on board.
“It has been … fun,” she said, hesitating. Their coach has put them against strong competition. “We’ve competed pretty well. We’ve had some really, really good matches.”
The idea had been to prepare them for this run.
“He’s really good at the net,” Hirsch said of Baker. “I’m pretty consistent from the baseline. I just rally it and he just puts the ball away.”
Being the girl in the mix, Hirsch learned quickly that she would be targeted when she’s at the net. It takes a bit of bravery to be under attack. The ball comes at her so quickly, she said.
“Blasts out at you,” she puts it.
“You don’t want to let your partner down,” Hirsch said. “When they come at you at the next, you can’t run away from the ball. You just have to face it. It takes a lot of faith.”
That is part of the commitment to playing mixed doubles. No doubts.
“There will be guys who will almost take my head off,” she said.
Hirsch believed they could beat Karter Rosenquist-Sadie Connally, the 4-5A champion from Abilene Cooper. The Wylie duo had a grueling semifinal against a Wichita Falls Memorial team the day before.
“It just wasn’t a good match,” she said of next facing Cooper.
The question entering regional was whether Hirsch-Baker could make it to San Antonio.
“I think we can,” she said. “It depends on the seeding. It depends on Cooper’s seeding. I definitely think we can play for third.”
Perhaps the best team would be from Grapevine, which Wylie played in the fall. Their No. 1 girls player (Sara Gyorgy) is in mixed, and Hirsch lost handily to her. Their top boys player, Noah Malin, is her partner.
Gyorgy with her sister won the Class 5A girls doubles title in 2025.
There is another side to Hirsch, who is the team’s resident musician. She is a percussion player in the band and plays the piano for the jazz band. It’s hard to stay disciplined to two interests; sometimes, they get in each other’s way.
That weekend, however, tennis won out.