Hargrove, Neal Come Together At Right Time

BENTONVILLE — Jack Neal and Ryan Hargrove felt the weight of the entire Bentonville boys tennis team on their shoulders as they entered their final match of the season.

Not only were the two juniors trying to win the Class 7A state doubles title, but the Tigers needed them to win in order to tie Little Rock Central and earn a share of the state championship. While the duo felt the added pressure, they refused to buckle under it.

“The last match was what we had been playing for the entire season,” Neal said. “We actually had more fun in that last match than we had all season. We knew it came down to us, and we were determined to play our best.”

Their 6-4, 6-4 victory in that match capped what both of them said was their best week of tennis, and it extended Bentonville’s string of state titles to five straight. It also catapulted them into being named the boys doubles team of the year by NWA Media.

Hargrove had been in that spot before, having reached the 7A doubles championship match last year, and could have gone the singles route this year. Bentonville coach Nick Nersesian, however, elected to give him a new partner and chose Neal, and it took the season for the two to get their styles to work.

“Jack is a really consistent player,” Hargrove said. “He doesn’t miss many balls, and he puts them where they need to be. I was able to use my serve effectively, and his ground strokes and his volleys really compliment them. I would serve and his volleys could put the game away, and vice versa. With his style of serving, I was able to move across.”

The season didn’t come without its down points for the two players, particularly in the 7A-West Conference tournament at Springdale Har-Ber. In a semifinal match against the Fayetteville team of Camron Kern and Hans Corbel, Neal admitted that emotions started getting high

— to the point where the two Bentonville teammates were yelling at each other.

Nersesian finally had seen enough and pulled the two players off the court, causing them to forfeit that match.

“We had our ups and downs,” Nersesian said. “They weren’t working well together at times, and in the tournament they fell apart. They learned a valuable life lesson, and I have to hand it to them. They grew and matured, and they learned from that lesson.

“They were very apologetic for the things they were doing on the tennis court. To pull them out of that match and teach them what they were doing, I’m proud that they stepped forward as players and apologized to the team and worked hard in practice to redeem themselves in the state tournament.”

Redemption truly belonged to Hargrove and Neal, despite the fact they wouldn’t get a first-round bye and would have to win four matches in two days to earn the title. The two never dropped a set and went on to claim the doubles final with a win over Kern and Corbel.

“The matches in the state tournament were good indicators of how the rest of our season was building to that moment,” Hargrove said. “We were able to play with styles that complimented each other.

“It took a whole season for that to happen and get that complete connection going. Then at the state tournament, it was the best we had played as a team.”