The Cambridge girls took first place in the 39th annual Buckhead Rotary Tournament over the weekend. The prestigious tournament included some of Georgia’s most accomplished boys and girls programs, as well as top teams from Tennessee. Seventeen-time and defending Class AAAAAAA state champion Walton placed third in the event.
Cambridge met Girls Prep (TN) in the final round and scored a 4-1 victory to secure the hardware. The win was especially impressive, as Cambridge played the tournament shorthanded. Due to a conflict with prom, Freshman Hanna Grace Skipper and sophomores Nicole Schmidt and Lily Wood were called up from JV to take the place of the Bears’ upperclassmen. Cambridge, which opened its doors as a school for the first time, has already won girls tennis state titles in 2015 and 2017. This past year, they came up just shy in a 3-2 loss to Northview. Additionally, this year’s team impressed at the star-powered DecoTurf Tournament with a runner-up finish.
On the boys side, Westminster was defeated by McCallie (TN) in the Buckhead Rotary Finals. The Wildcats bounced back with a 5-0 win over Woodward Academy on Tuesday, and will face Marist (April 3) and Wesleyan (April 4), before the Region Tournament begins on April 9.
The Walton girls followed their third-place finish in the rotary with a 5-0 sweep against Woodstock. The Raiders absolutely dominated at the three singles spots with Maggie Connolly (6-0, 6-2), Avery Oppenheim (6-0, 6-0) and Samantha Cohen (6-2, 6-0) combining for a 36-4 game sweep. This Thursday, Walton edged Lovet 3-2. The Raiders will return to action on April 10 at Bridgemill in Canton for the Regionals.
The Walton boys are also making noise after finishing runner-up to South Forsyth at last year’s state finals. The Raiders closed out their season with a 4-1 win over Lovett to secure a spot in the playoffs for the fourth-straight season and will be off until the Region Semifinals on April 10.
The state playoffs for all the classifications will begin the week of April 18 and the state championship for all classifications will be on the same date, Saturday, May 4 at the Rome Tennis Center.
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