Senior tennis star Los ‘deserving’ of state title

Graham Thomas/Herald-Leader
Siloam Springs senior Olha Los, seen here against Mountain Home in an earlier match this season, won the Class 5A state tennis championship in girls' singles on Oct. 11 in Hot Springs.
Graham Thomas/Herald-Leader Siloam Springs senior Olha Los, seen here against Mountain Home in an earlier match this season, won the Class 5A state tennis championship in girls' singles on Oct. 11 in Hot Springs.


Senior Olha Los captured the Class 5A state girls singles tennis championship on Tuesday, Oct. 11, to cap off what's been an ultra-successful career at Siloam Springs High School.

"I definitely worked very hard for it and I couldn't have done it without my brilliant coaches, Coach Kelly (Junkermann) and Coach (Clay) Taylor. I'm just a reflection of all of their hard work and love for this sport. I'm proud to represent the Siloam Springs tennis team and hope more people become a part of it this year. We are a family and I couldn't have done it without the support of my fellow teammates. I love tennis and want to help others grow the same type of love for it."

For Los, it's yet another piece of hardware to the trophy case, which already includes a 5A-West Conference singles title this fall and doubles championship as a freshman with Eve Slater in 2019.

Also included are finishing conference runner-up and third in state with Slater in 2020 and placing third overall in singles last year.

But the most recent accomplish -- a state singles title -- is well deserved according to her coach, who points out that Los has lost all of four matches in the last two seasons.

"Olha has shown the upmost dedication and leadership this season," said Siloam Springs coach Clay Taylor. "She has been putting in work for years now, perfecting her game, and her hard work has paid off. Olha could not be more deserving of the title state champion, and I am so proud of her for this amazing accomplishment."

It could be said that Los' state title run began one hot afternoon in late August when she dropped an 8-5 decision to Mountain Home's Macie Heide on a day when she wasn't feeling well but still gutted through the match.

Los got some payback over her longtime rival Heide in the 5A-West Conference title match when she beat Heide 6-1, 6-0 to win the 5A-West girls singles title.

Los then won her first three matches in the Class 5A state tournament before being paired up with Little Rock Parkview's Emmory Simmons in the finals, a rematch of last year's semifinals.

Simmons won the first set in this year's match 6-2, but Los was up 2-1 in the second set when Simmons had to withdraw for medical reasons, forfeiting over the state championship to Los.

On Monday, Oct. 17, Los played in the Arkansas State Overall Tournament held at Burns Park in North Little Rock.

She defeated Sydney Turner of Haas Hall Fayetteville 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the quarterfinals and advanced to the semifinals on Tuesday. Results were not available at presstime.