Tennis: Local doubles teams looking for state success

Two Permian Basin entries will try to knock off highly regarded opponents today in the opening round of the UIL State Tennis Championships.

Permian's Tai Lucero and Charlotte Dawson are qualified in Class 5A girls doubles and will play at the University of Texas' Penick-Allison Tennis Center.

Meanwhile, Wink's Shea Abbott and Seth Abbott are in the Class 1A boys doubles draw and will play at the Lakeway World of Tennis - which is about a 45-minute drive, at best, from Penick-Allison.

Lucero and Dawson are the first Permian entrants at the state tournament since 2002 and will try to make an impact in their quarterfinal match at 11:30 a.m. today against the New Braunfels sister team of Alex Adams and Sam Adams.

Last year, the Adams sisters finished second in the Class 4A state tournament, and they helped the Unicorns win the Class 5A state team tennis title in the fall.

It's a tough opening-round draw, but that isn't anything new for Lucero and Dawson.

At the Region I-5A Championships in Lubbock on April 20-21, the Permian duo opened against top-seeded Emma Morris and Madison Hudson of Abilene High. That team was undefeated in the spring and had reached the Class 5A state semifinals last season, but Lucero and Dawson gutted out a tense three-set victory.

If Lucero and Dawson win in the first round, they're scheduled to play in the semifinals at 2 p.m. The championship match is scheduled for 10:15 a.m. Tuesday.

In the Class 1A boys doubles draw, Wink's Abbott and Abbott open at 11:45 a.m. against Menard's Josh Hill and James Kothmann - who just happen to be the defending state champs in the draw.

The Abbotts won the Region I-1A title, which might make it surprising that they are having to play Hill and Kothmann in the first round. However, the Menard team lost in the regional final to Bobby Buist and Michael Vargas from Mason, which dropped into Class 1A this season after decades of solid state tennis results in Class 2A.

If the Wink duo wins in the first round, it will play in the semifinals at 3:30 p.m. The Class 1A boys doubles final is scheduled for 10:15 a.m. Tuesday.