Academy News

  Hayley Carter dominated the competition winning her second straight title at the ITF Junior Circuit Event held in Columbia, South Carolina from November 3rd-11th. She beat American Mia Horvit in the quarterfinals 6-4,6-1, and Rianna Valdes in the semifinals 6-3,6-1. In the championship match she defeated Kaitlin McCarthy 6-2, 6-4 to claim the title. Lats month, Carter teamed up with partner Brooke Austin to reach the finals of a $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in doubles. Also at the … read more

      Harrison O’Keefe travelled back home to Virginia to compete in the USTA/Mid Atlantic Championship from October 13-15 and came out with the championship trophy. O’Keefe beat Brett Moorhead 6-3,6-3 in the final match to take the title. With the win he will now be the #1 ranked junior in the Boys 18 and under division of the Mid Atlantic Section. Congrats to Harrison for all of his hard work paying off!  

Many academy students participated in the two local tournaments that were held this past weekend, October 19-21. The Dennis Van Der Meer Southern Junior Championships was a Southern Level 3 event held on Hilton Head and the Tennis Shop Junior Super Series was a Georgia Level 4 that was held in Savannah. Our students competed hard and once again had some fantastic results!   Following is a list of our champions and finalists:   Dennis Van Der Meer Southern Junior … read more

  Smith Stearns students won numerous titles at the Van der Meer Junior Classic held September 14-16 on Hilton Head Island. A total of 37 Smith Stearns students competed in the event. For some students this was their first tournament of the new semester and it was surely a great way to start off with a bang!   Following is a list of our champions and finalists:   B16 Champion – Sean Sculley B14 Champion – Alex Sklizovic G18 Champion … read more

      Hampton Drake had a fantastic transition into the boys 18 and under division when he captured the title at his first USTA Southern Bullfrog Designated in the 18’s. Drake defeated Christian Garay in the semifinals and Will Showers in the finals to claim the title.   Congrats to Hampton on a successful summer and a great start to the new semester!

Mariana Gould captured a gold ball for the second straight year by winning the doubles title at the USTA Girls 16 and under National Championships held August 4-12 in San Diego, California.   Partnering with Kimberly Yee of Las Vegas, Gould and Yee defeated Gabrielle Smith and Olivia Sneed, 6-2,3-6, 7-6(2) to claim the title.  She also made it to the quarterfinals of the singles event.   Fellow Smith Stearns student Hayley Carter won a bronze ball in the Girls … read more

Hampton Drake made it to the finals of doubles at the USTA National Clay Courts in the boys 16 and under division that was held in July in Delray Beach, Florida. He partnered with David Wilczynski  of Richboro, Pennsylvania.  They beat the #4 and #2 seeds to advance to the final round which was not played do to inclement weather. By a coin flip they won the silver balls as trophies, however this is definitely one situation where silver is … read more

Mariana Gould has been having quite the month. After struggling with the aftermath of heat exhaustion in which she had to default the main draw of a pro circuit event earlier in the month, Gould came back strong and has won her last two tournaments.   Originally from Boise, Idaho, Gould travelled back to the Intermountain Section to play the ITA Summer Sectional held in Salt Lake City, Utah, from June 9th-14th. She dominated the tournament losing only seven games … read more

Smith Stearns student Jess Jones dominated the USTA Southern Closed Boys 16 and under Championship held June 16th -23rd in Rome, Georgia, capturing the singles title and making it to the finals of the doubles event.   In the singles event, Jones seeded 5th, beat both the #1 and #2 seeds on his way to the title. In the championship match he defeated #1 seeded Walker Duncan, 7-5,6-4 to claim the championship.   Jones has been playing up in the … read more