Spartans Repeat State Championship in Tennis

By Mike Moguin
GTR Sports Writer

Bixby continues to build its girls tennis program.
The Lady Spartans won state for the second consecutive year by beating Jenks again to capture the Class 6A girls state championship.
They finished with 30 points compared to 29 for the runner-up Trojans. Bixby’s individual champions had to beat competition from Jenks in their respective finals.
Sophomore Maggie Holcomb repeated as the No. 2 singles champion. She was victorious in the final, 6-4, 6-4, against Emily Johnston. Senior Kalley Smith and sophomore Taylor Conway won the title in No. 1 doubles, earning a 6-0, 7-5 decision against Carolina Henry and Hannah Walman.
Also helping Bixby’s cause, senior Melody Holcomb, Maggie’s older sister, took fourth in No. 1 singles and sophomores Savannah Lee and Becca Powers finished runner-up in No. 2 doubles. Lee and Powers won that division last year.
“It was really special,” Maggie Holcomb said. “Especially since last year was our first year winning, I don’t think everyone was sure if we would repeat. But this year, now that we have repeated, it is just like we have made our territory. It is really special since my sister and Kalley are graduating this year.”
What also made this meaningful for the younger Holcomb was she faced a more challenging campaign than she did last year as a freshman.
“For me individually, I didn’t have as good as a season as I did last year,” Maggie Holcomb said. “I just wasn’t on my game as well. But, I knew that once I got to state, I just had to play the best I could and see what happened and that’s what I did.”
Serving played a big factor in Holcomb’s win against Johnston.
“Mainly her serve didn’t go very deep, so, I would attack off of her serve,” she said. “I just had to keep my game level and not let her game rise or I could be overpowered. I just had to keep playing the way I was playing.
“All of our wins against Jenks were crucial to getting the title because that was our main competition,” Holcomb said.
For Smith, being a senior made it special for her, while Conway was able to do it in her first year starting on varsity.
“It’s my first year winning state, so it is something I’ll definitely never forget,” Conway said. “It was even better that we won as a team, that made it even more special.”
“And we felt like without us getting first place, we wouldn’t have won as a team,” Smith said.
The pair admits to having a lot in common and believes they developed some chemistry through the season.
“We’re so much alike,” Conway said. “We’re both really aggressive on the court and since we’ve been playing together, we’ve become real close as friends too.”
And they point out that channeling that aggression is the key to their No. 1 doubles victory.
“We were so excited to play because we hadn’t lost a 6A match yet,” Smith said. “And we wanted to keep that streak going.”
Smith and Conway’s only match defeat during the season came against eventual 5A champion Bishop Kelley.
While Melody Holcomb and Smith are graduating and moving on to play collegiately at Oklahoma Baptist and Southern Arkansas, respectively, Conway and Maggie Holcomb hope to make the best of opportunities in the coming years for Bixby girls’ tennis.
“It’s really exciting to know the journey is going to keep going and I’m going to have more chances at winning and working hard definitely try to stay at the top,” Conway said. “It’s not going to be the same without Kalley, but we’re going to make the best of it for the next few years.”
“The key will be to keeping our team together with the new additions that we’re going to have,” Maggie Holcomb said. “We just need to keep playing our best every time we play on the court, act like it’s state.”
Spartan Quick Hits
• Kyle Peterson finished in a tie for third place at the Class 6A boys state golf tournament on May 7 in Edmond. Peterson carded 218 shots for the tournament at Rose Creek Golf Club.
• In boys tennis, the duo of Blake Hopp and Kaden Smith finished state runner-up in No. 1 doubles on May 11 in Oklahoma City.