3 Marble Falls tennis players advance to regionals
CAPTION: Senior Cooper Womack wears the gold medal he obtained by winning the Class 4A Region III tournament in boys singles. Courtesy photos
Three Marble Falls High School tennis players will compete at the Class 4A state tournament based on their finishes in the Class 4A Region III tournament April 17-18.
They are senior Cooper Womack and juniors Cooper Kelley and Amaris Mitchell-Ochoa.
No one had a better tournament than Womack, who won his second regional championship in boys singles.
Womack, who was seeded No. 1, received a first round bye and then eliminated China Spring’s Isaac Chapa 6-1, 6-1, Caldwell’s Landon Vykukal 6-2, 6-1, and Waco Robinson’s Kyson Williams 6-0, 6-1 in the championship. Williams defeated Burnet’s Nick Dietrich 6-3, 6-3 in the quarterfinals.
“It feels amazing truly,” Womack said of winning the tournament. “Although the scoreline shows a different story, it has been a battle and a lot of effort to make it here, and I am super proud to be able to bounce back after last year’s regional tournament and get back to state as one of the No. 1 seeds.”
Womack battled cramps in 2025 at regionals where he earned the bronze medal.
“Right now Cooper is playing well and he’s focused,” head coach Samuel Whitley said. “You could tell by the scores of his matches he’s dominating his opponent. This is his fourth year at regionals, he’s been the regional champion now twice and qualifying for state three times. He is on a mission right now.”
Womack noted that he “had a little of an emotional moment sitting back down on the bench after the (championship) match for a bit.”
“The fact that I’m a senior, with what coach (Whitley) is fighting (esophageal cancer) at the moment, and just a moment I had been waiting a whole year for with hours of practice daily to make sure I got it done one last time in regionals this year,” the senior said. “These opportunities have a limited number on them, and I know my chances are ending soon, so I think it really hit me that now is the time to finish stronger than any year and go get what I desire.”
Kelley and Mitchell-Ochoa earned the bronze medal and the final state tournament berth.
They began the tournament with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory against Bridge City’s Nolan Tran and Lauren Tran, crushed Caldwell’s Cayden Zboril and Kylie Vogler 6-1, 6-1, and lost to Bullard’s Kinsley Howard and Ryder Nelson, seeded No. 2, 6-3, 6-7 (2-7), 2-6. The Marble Falls duo was beating Little Cypress Mauriceville’s Sarah Barnes and Jace Benton 6-4, 0-1 when the opponent retired because of illness.
“You take what you get and move on,” Whitley said.
Three other Mustangs had their seasons end – girls singles player Nevaeh Nelson (Montoya) and the boys doubles team of Nicolas Smith and Payton Glaser. All three are seniors.
Glaser and Smith defeated Livingston’s Harper Armstrong and Evan Swander 6-2, 6-0, and lost to Center’s Bryce Gaddy and Ryder Moody 7-6 (7-4), 1-6, 6-7 (4-7). The center duo won the bronze medal match in straight sets to advance to the state tournament.
“They had a very heartbreaking, difficult match,” Whitley said of the loss to Center. “(Assistant coach Nathan) Redman said it was probably the best doubles match he’s ever seen. Two of the three sets went to a tiebreaker. That’s the heartbreaker when you are basically three points away from having a chance to win and go to state. They had a great season.”
Nelson lost to China Spring’s Ava Turner 0-6, 1-6 in the round of 16.
“Extremely proud of her,” Whitley said. “We do goals before the season starts. I normally have them write down what their goal is for the for the season and she specifically had her No. 1 goal was making the regionals. And she accomplished her goal and am extremely proud of that. She did very well in district, very proud of her. She has spent a lot of time out there in the summertime, open courts, developing her game, and it proved to be beneficial to her.”
Womack said what made this tournament so special were the number of Mustangs also competing.
“I always love to watch my teammates compete with me, and it makes me strive to play better for them as well,” he said. “I think we do a good job of supporting one another, which can truthfully decide really close matches, so I am very grateful to have teammates like the ones at Marble Falls for regionals. Each qualifier should be so proud of their results this year because it’s bigger than what place you make. It’s about the impact, and they all have made an impact that will last years.”
The state tournament is May 7-8 at the Annemarie Tennis Center in San Antonio.
CAPTION: Juniors Cooper Kelley (left) and Amaris Mitchell-Ochoa hold their bronze medals for finishing third in mixed doubles at the regional tournament.
