BE girls' tennis team scores 21st state title!

The Bishop England girls’ tennis team won its sixth straight state championship, and No. 1 as a Class AAA entry, with a 7-0 romp of Mid-Carolina Saturday at the Cayce Tennis Center.

Here’s a few more numbers to crunch. Coach Kristen Fleming-Arnold, Class of 1993, also played on four state championship teams when she was a student at BE.

The title gives the Bishops 21 overall state titles, which all adds up to No. 10.

Modern math? Hardly. All the numbers mentioned give the Bishops the No. 10 spot on the all-time state championships list in the country, according to the National Federation of High Schools Record Book.

The Bishops are a long way from the top of the tennis mountaintop at a national level with 21. Honolulu Punahou leads with 42 state titles while Edina, Minn. checks in at No. 2 with 33 state crowns.

Still, no one is complaining at the Daniel Island-based school, where everyone is celebrating.

The Bishops also completed the season with a perfect record, 18-0. It is believed to be the first perfect season in the school’s tennis history.

“I’ve been a coach here for eight years and a player for four years, and I don’t remember any tennis team going undefeated,” said Fleming-Arnold, who also coaches the boys’ team and owns a state title as coach of that program. “We’ve had some good seasons, winning state championships when we had a good record with four or five losses. But I can’t remember a team going undefeated.”

Fleming-Arnold said much of the focus was on winning a state title, not going undefeated. She might have mentioned it a few times when the team was nearing 10 straight regular-season victories.

“I did tell the team we were 17-0 after we won the Lower State,” she said. “I don’t think the girls took it as extra pressure. I think they took it as a challenge and were excited to close it out.”

It might be the most talented team, depth-wise in school history.

No. 1 Jenna Vroman signed with Wofford last week, while No. 2 Camryn Deames inked with the Air Force Academy. They have a combined seven state titles under their belts.

“Jenna and Camryn had big roles,” Fleming-Arnold said. “They helped build this team and the program. They had talent on the court and leadership abilities off. They will be missed.”

Vroman, No. 1 in singles who missed the Lower State championship with an illness, survived a challenge in a 7-5, 6-4 victory win over Mid-Carolina’s Elise Mills.

Deames played well as usual in the state finals with a 6-0, 6-1 singles victory over Caroline Magnet. She lost just nine games in four state championship matches.

Emily Elliott, the Bishops’ No. 3 player topped Riley Frazier 6-2, 6-2.

The Bishops Lilly Woods defeated Sarah DeWitt 6-0, 6-0 and Eleanor Campbell topped Candice Northcutt, 6-0, 6-0.

In doubles, Vroman and Deames teamed up to defeat Mills and Frazier, 9-8, while Crista Vroman, Jenna’s younger sister, and Drue Ranson defeated Reagan Pee and Catherine Taylor, 6-0, 6-0.