The Walton girls won their sixth straight championship, beating North Gwinnett 3-0 in the Class AAAAAAA championship game at the Clayton County International Park.
The Raiders, who had six seniors on their team, have now won 15 of the last 17 championships at the state’s highest level of competition.
Walton made pretty quick work of the Bulldogs. The Raiders won at No. 1 singles behind Liz Norman, who defeated Lauren Alexander 6-0, 6-3.
Walton won both doubles matches. The No. 1 team of Grace Gaskins and Emily Gaskins beat Lane Kunin and Elle Hammond 6-0, 6-0, and the No. 2 team of Shelby Martin and Gracelyn Thrash defeated Lily Zhang and Maya Diaz 6-4, 6-0.
“We live in a community that’s very tennis heavy and have a developed a reputation that the girls want to come and play,” coach Anthony Fotti said.
Credit: Stan Awtrey
Credit: Stan Awtrey
Class AAAAAAA boys: Lambert made quick work on Etowah, winning 3-0 to take its first state championship. The Longhorns were led by Dayton signee Will Harper at No. 1 singles and University of the South signee Jack Metzger, who each won their match 6-3, 6-1. The No. 1 doubles team of Spencer Brown and An Lenka also won.
“It’s huge,” said Lambert coach Eric Hampton said. “I’m excited for the boys, especially the two Division I signees who decided to come back and play.”
Lambert had a combination of young and old. There were four freshmen on the team – both doubles teams.
Credit: Stan Awtrey
Credit: Stan Awtrey
Class AAAAAA girls: Cambridge avenged two regular-season losses to Alpharetta and won the state championship 3-0. Cambridge also won in 2015.
The Bears won at No. 1 singles with Hanna Giddings and swept the two doubles matches. The No. 1 team of Isabella Larson and Ann Spurka won in three sets and the No. 2 team of Allison Larson and Shelley Larson also prevailed.
“The first two matches were so competitive we knew we had a chance,” Cambridge coach Jenny Schultz said. “They came and were fired up and played aggressive tennis.”
Class AAAAAA boys: Northview was down 2-1, but came back to beat rival Chattahoochee 3-2 to win its second straight state championship. The Titans won at No. 2 doubles behind Mitchell Perry and Kenneth Limyadi. Chattahoochee had taken the lead on wins behind Kevin Huynh at No. 2 singles and the No. 1 doubles team of Steven Huynh and Pranav Iyer.
Northview rebounded to get a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 3 singles Gavin Seagraves. The decisive match was at No. 1, where Northview’s Jeremy Yuan outlasted Daniel Li 6-3, 4-6, 6-1.
Credit: Stan Awtrey
Credit: Stan Awtrey
Class AAAAA girls: Chamblee won the first girls tennis championship in the school's long history and brought DeKalb County its first tennis title since 2001. The Bulldogs outlasted Starr's Mill 3-1 in the final.
Olena Bilukha completed an undefeated season and improved to 52-0 by winning No. 1 singles. No. 2 singles Grace Pietkiewicz survived a three-set match to clinch the victory. The No. 1 doubles team of Madeline Meer and Madison Trinh were victorius and the Bulldogs finished the season 25-0.
It was the first girls tennis championship for a DeKalb County school since 1984.
Class AAAAA boys: Starr's Mill breezed to a 3-0 win over Carrollton to successfully defend its championship. The Panthers got a win from No. 2 singles player Davis Wall and swept the two doubles matches. No. 1 doubles team of Chris Sellers and Jack Merna and the No. 2 team of Cam Kelly and Sean Nima were victorious.
Class AAAA girls: North Oconee made quick work of St. Pius, winning the championship 3-0. It was the second straight state title for the Titans, who had beaten St. Pius for the Region 8 championship.
Class AAAA boys: Marist won its fourth straight boys title, a first for the school's accomplished program, by beating North Oconee 3-0. Marist began the season as heavy favorites with eight seniors on the roster, all who had been with the program since the ninth grade.
The War Eagles got wins from No. 1 singles Jefferson Dockter, No. 2 singles Grant Kelly and No. 2 doubles team of Hunter Williams and Kiernan Corbett.
“We had three seniors miss a month during the season and we were able to overcome a lot of adversity,” said Marist coach Tommy Marshall.
Credit: Stan Awtrey
Credit: Stan Awtrey
Class AAA girls: The Westminster girls sent coach Scoot Dimon into retirement with a state championship.
The girls doused Dimon with a bucket of water to celebrate their 3-2 victory over Calhoun in the Class AAA championship match. The veteran coach plans to move to Naples, Fla., “and maybe play some tennis,” he said.
“The girls were nice to me to send me out with a state championship,” Dimon said. “We’ve won a lot of championships and it all comes down to the kids.”
Calhoun won the two singles matches behind McCartney Kessler and Carly Briggs. Westminster won No. 1 doubles with Caitlyn Margol and Maya Sinha and No. 2 doubles with Claire Corbin and Cyan D’Anjou.
The decisive point came from senior Abby Seitz, who won 6-2, 6-1 at No. 3 singles to clinch the title.
“Abby is a senior and that’s what seniors do,” Dimon said. “Seniors know what it’s like.”
Credit: Stan Awtrey
Credit: Stan Awtrey
Class AAA boys: Westminster finished its second straight undefeated season and beat Pace Academy 3-0. The Wildcats had already beaten Pace twice this season.
Westminster got wins in singles from Josh Pinckney and Blair Nagel and the No. 1 doubles team of Jack Gabriel and Jack McDonald.
Westminster had five first-year starters, but managed to win its seventh consecutive championship.
Class AA girls: Bleckley County swept Screven County 3-0 to win its first championship. The Royals got wins from Abby Sims and Hanna Dykes in singles and from the No. doubles team of Regan Cole and Bailey Odom, who stepped in when regular Jordan Williams injured her hamstring on Wednesday.
Class AA boys: Bleckley County got the deciding win at No. 3 singles from Bronson Sanders and beat Model 3-2. The Royals also got a win at No. 1 singles from Harsh Patel and at No. 1 doubles from Dayton Cannon and Will Collins.
Class A Public girls: Drew Charter finished and undefeated season and won its first state championship by beating Trion 3-2 in the Class A Public girls final.
Credit: Stan Awtrey
Credit: Stan Awtrey
The Eagles swept the three singles matches. Autumn Clemons won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1 and sister Summer Clemons won 6-1, 6-0 at No. 2. The deciding victory came at No. 3 singles, where Naima Cooper prevailed.
Trion won the two doubles matches behind Laurie Gentry and Shayla Youngblood at No. 1 and Shelby Carlock and Emily Patterson at No. 2.
Class A Private boys: Stratford Academy swept the three singles matches and defeated Mt. Paran Christian to win its second title in three years. Mark Barrow won at No. 1 singles to complete and undefeated season and brother Samuel Barrow won at No. 2. The deciding match was won at No. 3 singles, where freshman Daniel Cohen prevailed.
Class A Private girls: Brookstone defeated Wesleyan 3-2 to win the championship for the second straight year. Wesleyan had won two straight titles at a different classification.
Class A Public boys: Irwin County made quick work of Telfair County, winning 3-0. It was the first boys tennis championship for Irwin County
About the Author
