Raiders continue to build

May 3—Kyle Calloway had never played tennis when he decided to give it a shot last year.

Turns out he had to wait another year to make his debut.

Calloway, now a junior at Liberty, and his good friend and doubles partner Isaac Wyatt-Dunbar were ready to see what they were made of last spring. Unfortunately, the two spent so much time in quarantine that they decided to give it up for a year.

Now they're trying to make up for the lost time.

Calloway and Wyatt-Dunbar finished third at No. 1 seed doubles in the Class AA-A Region 3 tennis tournament Monday at Shady Spring High School. That qualifies them for the state tournament scheduled for May 12-14 at the Kanawha City Community Center and Charleston Catholic High School.

They were joined by teammates Carson Turner and Isaac Schmidt, who qualified as the runners-up at No. 2 doubles.

Calloway is the Raiders' No. 3 seed in singles and Wyatt-Dunbar is fourth. That's an atypical pairing for No. 1 doubles, but it's worked.

"They work so well together and they picked it up so quickly," said Joan Cooper, now in her fourth year as Liberty's head coach. "They're just such great athletes. We practiced them, and usually you don't put your third and fourth (singles) seeds in first seed doubles, because they are usually lower players. But they play so well together, best buds, that we stuck them at first seed doubles and they've really done well."

Calloway and Wyatt-Dunbar are just thankful for the opportunity after last year's struggles.

"We went back and forth and we didn't get enough practices to play the first couple of games, so we quit, just called it," Calloway said. "I always thought (tennis) was fun. I always kind of watched it, so I was like, may as well give it a try. It's my junior year, I've got two more years left.

"This is my first full year and it's been fun. Can't complain about anything. It's kind of went up and down a little bit, but overall it's been pretty good. I have good teammates, good coaches. It's been fun."

Schmidt, a sophomore, has been in perhaps the toughest position. The Raiders lost two key players in 2021 state qualifiers Andrew Ellis and Jackson Trump (first and second seed, respectively). Schmidt stepped into the first seed and has taken it as a learning experience.

"It's been challenging. I went from fourth seed to first seed because our seniors graduated, but it's been a good experience," he said. "I don't find losing to be a loss. It's losing to learn. I get a lot of compliments from the seniors, like, 'Wow, you're going to be pretty big when you're a senior.'"

State qualifying was a continuation of recent success for the Raiders. Second seed Carson Turner joined Calloway and Wyatt-Dunbar as Coalfield Conference individual champions last week on their home courts. Also winning a championship were Alex Whitener and Patrick Hilbert at No. 3 doubles. Whitener also played there last season but has a new partner in Hilbert.

The girls team — made up of a junior, three sophomores and two freshmen — had a pair of doubles champions last week. Kalee Bower and Kasi Butler won at No. 2, and the No. 3 champions were Zoe Asbury and Maggie Belcher.

"They're doing better," Cooper said of the girls team. "Every year they get better."

Complete results were not available at press time.

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Woodrow Wilson had a successful day in singles at the Class AAA Region 3 tournament.

Girls No. 1 Elysia Salon won the regional championship to lock up her third state tournament appearance. Freshman Abby Dillon will be going to the state tournament as well, finishing runner-up at No. 2.

Boys No. 1 Ram Asaithambi, also a freshman, qualified as runner-up. Rahul Ilangovan did the same at No. 2.

Doubles play will begin Tuesday at 9 a.m. in Kanawha City.

Email: gfauber@register-herald.com; follow on Twitter @gfauber5