OXFORD, MISS — Oxford and Lafayette athletes excelled on Thursday as the Oxford Park Commission played host to the MHSAA Individual Tennis Championships, welcoming 620 players from across in the largest amateur tennis tournament in the state. 

The hosts showed out in the tournament, combining to go 11-1 in the first round and 9-2 in the second round.  

Lafayette’s Matthew Addy and Jake Leary were the only pairing to lose in the first round for either squad, falling to Saltillo’s Jacob Jolly and Will Stone in straight sets (6-2, 6-0). 

The Commodores dominated the rest of the way in the first round, claiming victory in boys’ singles (6-0, 6-1), girls’ singles (6-0, 6-0), the first boys’ doubles pairing (6-0, 6-1), the mixed doubles pairing (6-0, 6-0) and both girls’ doubles pairings (6-1, 6-0 and 6-3, 6-0 respectively). 

Oxford also cruised through the first round, dropping just three games as a team as they advanced in boys’ singles (6-0, 6-0), girls’ singles (6-0, 6-0), mixed doubles (6-2, 6-0) and both boys’ doubles matches (6-0, 6-0 and 6-1, 6-0 respectively). 

The Chargers breezed their way through the quarterfinals as well as they failed to drop a single set on the first day of competition. 

Boys’ singles competitor Rowan Devera defeated Hernando’s Kole Kusek (6-2, 6-2), girls’ singles competitor Owen Wilkinson defeated Southaven’s Adiva McQuarter (6-1, 6-0), the mixed doubles pairing of Hassell Wilkinson and Bel Montieth defeated Brandon’s Jayne Bass and Dysart Bell (6-1, 6-3), the first boys’ doubles pairing of Sharp Grantham and Charlie Fruge defeated Hernando’s Cole Stoddard and Jeffery Cunningham (6-1, 6-0) and the second boys’ doubles pairing of Joel Montgomery and Owen Collins defeated Gulfport’s Smith Walker and Caiden Karetas (6-3, 6-1). 

Lafayette did not have as much success in the second round, going 4-2 in the quarterfinals against tougher competition. 

Girls’ singles competitor Alex Lampton defeated Neshoba Central’s Halle Montgomery (6-2, 6-3), the boys’ doubles pairing of Crosse Lindsay and Finn Rico defeated Saltillo’s Dalton Teeple and Weston Clayton (6-1, 6-0), the mixed doubles pairing of brother and sister duo Jenna Lampton and Brett Lampton defeated Brookhaven’s John Sonnes and Allie McNeill (6-0, 6-0) and the girls’ doubles pairing of Presleigh Loper and Presley Thomas defeated Saltillo’s Abby Hannon and AnnaBelle Collum (7-5, 6-3), while boys’ singles competitor Porter Lindsay fell to Long Beach’s Nick Dulaney (6-4, 6-2) and the first girls’ doubles pairing of Hudson Lindsay and Valerie Smith fell to Brookhaven’s Caroline Kilpatrick and Lucy Allen (7-5, 7-5). 

The semifinals kick off Friday at 9 a.m. before the finals at 1 p.m.