South Carroll won 1A state titles at girls doubles and mixed doubles and finished as state runner-up. Liberty's boys doubles team also won gold.
As the Wilde Lake Tennis Club began to empty out, South Carroll’s Michael Mooney stood with his new gold medal draped around his neck. He still needed a moment to find the words to sum up the experience. Mooney and his mixed doubles partner, Sydney Mossman, had just become state champions.
“It was great to come back and win regionals after losing counties, and to take it all the way to states is just amazing,” Mooney said.
Mooney and Mossman weathered the heat and a long, tough battle from Williamsport’s Elizabeth Warren and Aiden Nigh to win the Class 1A mixed doubles state championship, 7-6 (4), 7-5.
“We’ve put in a lot of effort this season in general,” Mossman said. “We didn’t have a lot of opportunities to play with each other before the season started. So we’re building our team as county, regionals went on. It means a lot to be able to take No. 1.”
Emotions were tough to manage for many, especially the three Carroll County doubles teams that walked away from the 1A tournament as state champions.
South Carroll never had a state tennis champion before; now it has two sets of teams, plus a Class 1A runner-up trophy. About an hour before Mooney and Mossman wrapped up the day with their title, Audrey Lillycrop and Caroline Aliftiras won the 1A girls doubles title in straight sets over St. Michael’s Alexandria Rockwell and Lila Moore, 6-3, 6-1.
“We’ve never been this far before now in our junior year of playing together,” Lillycrop said. “It’s a really amazing experience for both of us.”
Aliftiras added: “We’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time now, It’s now time.”
Liberty’s Hayden Speace and Arjun Mistry have been partners for the better part of two seasons, including an undefeated run this spring culminating with their 6-0, 6-3 win over St. Michaels’ Miles Fox and Cooper Baum.
“My partner is a senior so I wanted to give him the best ending of his high school and senior season,” Mistry said.
For Speace, it was the perfect ending to his high school career.
“As a senior, this season’s kind of been a whirlwind,” he said. “I loved every bit of it with Arjun. It just means so much to cap of my senior year with a state championship.”
When asked at what point did they feel their team was state-championship caliber, Mistry and Speace each pointed to the second set of this year’s county finals.
“I kind of cramped up, couldn’t really move,” Speace said. “We were down 1-4, brought it back to 5-5, it got too dark to play though. But just having my partner behind me, battling with me, it just proved to us we were able to win states.”
Mistry became a two-time state champion, the first in Liberty history. Two years ago as a freshman, he teamed with Nikhil Andhavarapu — who finished this year as boys singles state runner-up — to win a doubles crown.
“I give the credit to my coach [Tom Brecker],” Mistry said. “Beginning my freshman year, I was basically a singles player; I didn’t have much doubles experience. But my coach helped me and I’ve became a doubles player. Coach Brecker is honestly the best.”
A lot of factors have to work together to create a successful doubles team. Speace and Mistry have one of the most important: “Our rapport on and off the court, I love this guy,” Speace said.
Aliftiras and Lillycrop have that same kind of bond. “She’s my best friend,” Aliftiras exclaimed.
“I think because we’ve been playing together since freshman year, we’ve never really been separated,” Lillycrop added. “We get along really great outside of tennis so it really helps the chemistry.”
Their play styles also coexist nicely as they communicate and set each other up to make the best shots.
“I definitely help her at the net when I’m at the baseline and same the other way around,” Aliftiras said.
Mossman and Mooney used that same technical chemistry to hit a series of winners that allowed them to fend off their final challenge. After winning the first set in a tiebreaker, they fell behind 5-4 in the second before rallying to win three straight games to win the match and the state title.
“I didn’t want to wake up tomorrow and regret making errors and not playing my best game,” Mossman said.
“We just took it point by point,” Mooney said. “We wanted to just win each point going on and not worry about the next.”
Unlike some other area counties, Carroll doesn’t have mixed doubles as part of its normal season lineup. But that didn’t stop the two from forging a strong team.
“I think during counties, I realized, this is our first time playing together,” Mossman said. “Through counties, I realized we were working really well together, we’re able to move well together. I didn’t know for sure, obviously, but I kind of had an idea we’d be able to go far.”
Saturday’s success has been unprecedented at South Carroll — Aliftiras credited the new coaching staff. But the group proved that it’s a program on the rise. The Cavaliers were one point away from a team state title this year, scoring 14 to Williamsport’s 15, thanks in part to Williamsport having an extra entry, but think the momentum can carry on.
“It helps the momentum for next year when we’re losing a few people, but we’ll have some strong players still,” Lillycrop said.
