Academy News

Smith Stearns students had an opportunity to play a tournament close to home when the VDM Classic was held on Hilton Head from September 13-15. Twenty two of our students competed in the local tournament and they came out with a total of four championship titles. It was a great weekend full of tennis where our students got to play in front of their coaches, friends, and other academy supporters.   Here are some of the highlights from the VDM … read more

    Smith Stearns students participated in the 31st Annual Raleigh Racquet Club Junior Championships held in Raleigh from September 7-8 as well as the Bullfrog Designated held in Little Rock and Memphis from September 6-9.     At the RRC Championships Sara McClure made it all the way to the finals of the girls 12’s singles championship before barely losing her final match in a third set tiebreaker. Ariel Shulman also had a great tournament and made the finals … read more

Labor weekend marked a big tournament weekend for our students as they participated in events all across the country! After two weeks of hard work and training in the school year program many got the opportunity to test their skills against some great competition.   The academy took groups to participate in the Tennessee Open Junior Clay Courts in Knoxville, the Papa John’s Junior Championship in Augusta, and the USTA Regional Segment in Sumter. Student’s also participated in other Regional … read more

What a great summer it has been with our students posting some awesome results at tournaments all over the country! Our students picked up a total of 4 USTA balls at Summer Nationals as well as 3 sportsmanship awards! Check out some of the summers best highlights below:       Harrison O’Keefe – Bronze Ball Boys 18’s Doubles USTA National Clay Courts               Ali DeSpain – Silver Ball  Girls 12’s Doubles USTA National … read more

  Smith Stearns students posted excellent results at the USTA Regional Segments (National Level 3) that were held all across the nation from July 6-8. Many of our students played extremely well and placed in their respective age divisions.         Mariana Gould made the finals of the girls 18’s Southern Open in Birmingham, Alabama, which doubles as a regional segment. The finals was not played due to weather but Mariana won the coin flip for the winner’s … read more

In just his second tournament back, after being sidelined from tournament play for a few months with a wrist injury, Hampton Drake showed he was back on top of his game by capturing the USTA National Open Championships in the boys 18 and under division held July 3-5 in Aston, Pennsylvania.   In his last two matches, Drake beat two top ranked national players in Strong Kirchheimer and Chris Vrabel. In the semifinals Drake outlasted Kirchheimer, in a hard fought … read more

Cameron Kriscunas and Robert Loeb both placed second in doubles at the 16 and under Southern Closed Championship held June 15-21 in Rome, Georgia.   Partnering with McKenna Jones, Kriscunas won five straight matches including a third set tiebreaker win over the 2nd seeds to earn a place in the finals. In the final they lost a closely contested match to Amanda Rebol and Clare Raley, 7-5,6-4. Kriscunas and Jones had also partnered together in May to capture the Palmetto … read more

Andrew Schafer has had a great junior career and now he is continuing his success on the Pro Circuit. This past month he has qualified for two USTA Pro Circuit Events in Vero Beach and Amelia Island.   In the Vero Beach $10,000 Schafer had a win over one of the top ranked junior players in the United States Spencer Papa, who was also ranked as high as #15 in the world this year. Schafer beat Papa 6-4,7-5 and then … read more

  Hayley Carter was the local favorite at the $10,000 USTA Pro Circuit Event held May 27th-June 2nd at Van der Meer and made it all the way to the final match.   Carter dominated players from the Canada, the United States, France, and Japan all in straight sets to earn a spot in the finals where she lost to Russian Yana Koroleva 7-5,6-4.   She was watched all week by families from the academy and members of the local … read more

        Hayley Carter once again led the way this past week at the Palmetto Championships (SC State Closed) that was held May 24-28, in Belton, South Carolina capturing her 15th and 16th titles respectively. With those wins she goes down in history as one of the the best players to play South Carolina tennis, breaking the record by winning the most SC State Championships. She won the girls 18 and under singles championship by defeating Ansley Speaks, … read more