By Rubin E. Grant
Photo by Jason Ding
Vestavia Hills tennis coach Oliver Aaron was reluctant to call the Rebels’ dominance in Class 7A a dynasty, but two of his players had no qualms about using the term to describe it.
Vestavia Hills boys and girls swept the 2025 Class 7A championships in the 80th AHSAA Tennis Championships April 24-25 at the Mobile Tennis Center. The boys won their fourth consecutive state championship, and the girls won their second straight and third in four years. “I don’t want to call it a dynasty, but I guess you can say that,” Aaron says.
Senior Luke Bedwell didn’t hesitate to call the Rebels’ supremacy a dynasty after winning his second consecutive Class 7A boys No. 1 singles title. “I think it is a dynasty,” Bedwell says. “We’ve created the image of the guys being outstanding, and I honestly believe with the younger players coming back it will continue.”Senior Kenley Outzen spoke just as matter-of-factly about the Vestavia Hills girls. “I definitely believe it’s a dynasty,” says Outzen, who won the No. 3 girl’s singles title. “This team was very strong, and I am sure it will continue to be in the future.”
The Rebels boys won five individual singles championships and all three doubles titles to finish with 57 points, more than doubling the total of runner-up Montgomery Academy, which had 26 points to edge Florence (24) and Hoover (23).
The Vestavia Hills girls captured four singles titles and all three doubles championships to total 57 points, well ahead of Huntsville (33 points), St. Paul’s Episcopal (23) and Montgomery Academy (20).
“It’s all the kids,” Aaron says. “They put in the work and were rewarded. My assistant coach, Timarie Fisk, was also a great help. We had six senior boys and five senior girls, and they did a really good job of bringing the younger kids along. It was like one big family. In my four years, I hadn’t seen a team come together like this one, boys and girls. It’s been a special class.”
Bedwell (28-1) posted a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Montgomery Academy’s John Alford (36-5) to claim the No. 1 boy’s singles title. “It feels really good to win it again,” Bedwell says. “All the time I put in paid off. It’s good to celebrate it with my teammates and the coaches. Coach Aaron has really helped me become a better player.”
Bedwell is headed to Spring Hill College in Mobile to play collegiately, and some of his future coaches and teammates were there to witness his triumph. “That was a really cool experience with them there,” Bedwell says. “With all of the players being there, it pushed me to try even harder. It helped me, honestly.”
Bedwell also teamed with No. 3 singles champion Louis Kolettis (26-4) to win the No. 1 doubles title as well, beating Hoover’s duo of Chen Joiner and Cade Black in a very tough final, 6-2, 4-6, 10-5.
Rebels No. 2 singles champ Andrew Pipkin, a junior, (22-1) joined with No. 5 singles champ Daniel Cather (25-4) to win the No. 2 doubles title. Ben Cusimariu and Parker Liu won at No. 3 doubles. Vestavia Hills’ Duncan McInnes (14-1) also won the No. 6 singles, defeating Hoover’s Shiv Jaikumer 6-1, 2-6, 10-8. Rebels’ sophomore Austin Hood (15-4) lost to Hoover’s Asim Virani, 6-4, 6-4, in the No. 4 final.
“This team is really close,” Bedwell says. “We’ve never worked harder. We all pushed each other to get better.”
The Vestavia Hills’ girls, in addition to Outzen (22-4) at No. 3, saw Caroline Helms (23-3) at No. 4, eighth-grader Peyton Standifer (19-0) at No. 5 and Kitty Watts (24-1) at No. 6 claim singles titles.
Vestavia Hills swept all three doubles titles. Senior Ansley Cox, who is headed to Penn State to play collegiately, teamed with senior Madison Standifer to win No. 1 doubles, defeating Montgomery Academy’s duo of
Lola Campbell and Gabby Barrera, 6-0, 6-4.
Both Cox and Madison Standifer showed remarkable resiliency after losing tough singles matches. Cox lost a grueling three-set No. 1 singles match against Barerra in the semifinals, 6-0, 2-6, 12-10. Barerra (30-0) went on to win her third consecutive No. 1 singles title with a 7-5, 6-2 victory against Huntsville’s Mazie MacGrotty (15-1).
Madison Standifer (18-4) lost 6-4, 7-6 to St. Paul’s Episcopal’s Pearce Graf (28-0) in the No. 2 singles final. “Losing in singles didn’t affect either one of them,” Aaron says. “They played great in No. 1 doubles.”
Outzen teamed with Helms to win No. 2 doubles, defeating Huntsville’s Taliyah Williams and Madison Letterle, 6-2, 6-2. Watts joined Wynn Strubel to win No. 3 doubles, with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Huntsville’s Caroline Stapler
and Gianna Burch.
“I’m so excited we won and proud of our team,” Outzen says. “We couldn’t have done it without everyone contributing. It was an all-round effort.”
