HOPE – The 2020-2021 Hope High School tennis season hits its mid-point Sept. 10 with mixed showings to date in the year COVID-19 has changed high school athletics in Arkansas.

HHS tennis coach Gerald Bennett’s roster is weighted towards girls play this year with five freshmen, five sophomores, two juniors and five seniors on the Ladycat team and two Bobcat netters on the boys’ side.

The Ladycats have had a mixed season, winning singles and doubles matches at DeQueen, but splitting with singles wins and doubles losses at Arkadelphia. The girls lost both singles and doubles play at Nashville on Aug. 18, but split with one singles and three doubles wins against Nashville on Sept. 3.

The Bobcat boys are winless to date.

The HHS Ladycat team includes freshmen Amber Cisneros, Edith Dominguez, Yoshigei Gonzales, Jessica Mendoza, and Priscilla Moreno; sophomores, Camri Cox, Jaelyn Lara, Aiyana Martin, Aunesti Pearson, and Zakiah Randal; juniors, Nakenya Ellison and Hale Ward; and, seniors Ammy Garcia, Jaci Johnson, Michelle Mayo-Cortez, Marisol Reyes, and Autumn Ward.

Senior Justin Armstrong and sophomore Darius Jones represent the Bobcats.

Regular season play continues Sept. 10 versus DeQueen at DeQueen; Sept. 14 at home against Arkadelphia; Sept. 17 versus Malvern at Malvern; Sept. 24 at home against Malvern; and, Sept. 29 versus Fountain Lake at Fountain Lake. All remaining regular season matches are at 4 p.m.

The district tennis tournament is set for Oct. 5-6, and the state tournament is scheduled for Oct. 12-13. Sites for both tournaments will be announced.