Boys’ tennis claims sweet redemption, boys and girls win regions
Submitted by Christine Kingsley
The Starr’s Mill girls tennis team takes a picture with their first place trophy after regions. The Lady Panthers won regions 3-0 allowing them to progress to state.
April 19, 2017
After a consistent season for the Starr’s Mill tennis teams, the boys and girls dominated their region competition in South Fulton on April 11 for the boys and April 12 for the girls. The boys brought home a sweet victory against McIntosh after their loss on March 21 and the girls won as well. Both teams won regions with a score of 3-0 allowing them to progress to state.
The Starr’s Mill girls tennis team takes a picture with their first place trophy after regions. The Lady Panthers won regions 3-0 allowing them to progress to state.
The season continues to advance smoothly as the boys have a record of 13-7 and the girls have a record of 14-5. The boys played against Riverdale, Whitewater, and McIntosh winning all three, while the girls played against Fayette County and McIntosh winning their games as well.
“Our losses were out of region, so region came out the way we thought it would come out,” assistant coach Emily Woodward said. “Onto state will be our tougher road because we are going to play Carrollton again whom we lost to earlier in the season. This is why we play teams like Carrollton, to try to help us when it comes to [state].”
In the competition against McIntosh, junior Davis Wall won the line two singles. The line one doubles, consisting of seniors Jack Merna and Chris Sellers, and the line two doubles, consisting of sophomore Sean Nima and senior Cam Kelly, also won their matches against McIntosh. Additional wins against Riverdale and Whitewater helped the team finish first in the region.
“I think with the lineup we have now, yeah [we have a good chance of winning state],” senior Noah Mcpherson said. “Originally Cam [Kelly] and Chris [Sellers] were one doubles together and we split them to balance out those teams, so it’s not too unreasonable to sweep doubles and Davis [Wall] will probably win two singles.”
The Lady Panthers won their region competition with an impressive victory of 3-0. They won their matches against McIntosh and Fayette County. In the competition against McIntosh, senior Sydney Soto won the line two singles. The line one doubles, consisting of sophomores Caroline Kingsley and Megan Fox, and the line two doubles, seniors Olivia Walker and Dani Vivas, won their matches against McIntosh as well. The girls also finished first in the region.
“The season has no doubt been tough, but usually our team comes out on top through it all,” Soto said. “Everyone’s development since last year has been instrumental in our success this year and I can’t wait to see it pay off throughout state.”
The Starr’s Mill tennis teams played on April 17 at the first round of the state playoffs. The boys defeated Thomas County Central 5-0 and the girls won against Harris County 5-0 as well. Both teams will continue to the second round of state playoffs on April 21 for the girls and April 24 for the boys.
