[04/16/02]Vicksburg lost its two-year hold on the city tennis championship, finishing second to St. Aloysius in the 11th Julie Abraham Memorial Tournament Monday at Halls Ferry Park.

The Flashes won four matches, while Vicksburg won one and Warren Central was shut out.

The Flashes had byes in four of the five matches. The tournament was scheduled to start at 5 p.m., but WC and Vicksburg coaches wanted to start earlier. St. Al coach Mike Lyle, who is a professional tennis umpire, did not get to Halls Ferry until 4 p.m. because he was working a match in Jackson.

St. Al did won the only match it didn’t have a bye in, mixed doubles.

“We agreed that Vicksburg would play Warren Central at 3:30 and my team would play the winners,” Lyle said. “You have to beat both teams to win anyway, so in reality, the only difference is that they had to play two matches.”

The lone St. Aloysius loss was in boys singles when Vicksburg eighth-grader Jordan Henry beat John David Hoseman 6-0, 6-0. Henry started the day with a 6-2, 6-0 win over WC’s Chase Koestler, whose only two losses are to Henry.

“He made a lot of mistakes and I didn’t hit a lot of winners,” Henry said of his match with Koestler. “I was consistent, and he hit most of them out.”

Lyle, who caught the tail end of Henry’s first win, said there was little doubt he’d win the singles.

“There’s nobody around here that can beat him,” Lyle said. “He’s fun to watch.”

Carrie Neill breezed past Katlin Shelton in girls singles 6-1, 6-0 to win the tournament. Shelton beat Vicksburg’s Angelique Moffett in the first round.

St. Al’s girls doubles team of Josie Hood and Bonney Neill beat WC’s Lori Beth Shelton and Katie Malik, 7-5, 7-5 to earn the title. Shelton and Malik beat Vicksburg’s Rebecca Harden and Shelly Simmons in the opener.

In boys doubles, Flashes Michael Engle and Bryan Mathias outlasted VHS’ Justin Jones and Kiger Sigh 6-3, 4-6, 6-1. The Vicksburg duo beat WC’s Richard Jackson and Steven Mason in the first match.

In mixed doubles, Patrick Sadler and Alicia Humble defeated Vicksburg’s Stephanie Warren and Russell Morrison 6-4, 6-5.

The Flashes were scheduled to play in the Division 7-1A meet this morning in Ridgeland. Vicksburg and Warren Central will play Wednesday at 9 a.m. in the Division 4-5A tournament at Halls Ferry.