The GHSA Tennis State Championships will return to the Rome Tennis Center for the second-straight year on Saturday, May 4. There are 16 boys teams and 16 girls teams represented in the different classifications and the action will start at 9:30 a.m. for the girls and 1:30 p.m. for the boys.
In Class AAAAAAA, the six-time defending champion and 21 all-time champion Walton girls were eliminated in the semifinals by Milton 3-1. As a result, there will be a Region 5 showdown between the Eagles and top seed Lambert, which fell shy 3-2 to Walton in last year’s finals. On the boys side, finalists Brookwood and North Cobb are each coming in battle-tested. Brookwood defeated defending champion South Forsyth 3-2 in the semis after a 3-2 battle with Lassiter in the quarterfinals and North Cobb is fresh off a 3-2 win over Milton and its 3-2 win over Wheeler in the semis. North Cobb has never won a boys tennis state championship and Brookwood will be looking to add its ninth all-time and first since going back-to-back in 2013-14.
Region 7 is filling both Class AAAAAAA finals matchups with Northview taking on the Cambridge girls and the Johns Creek boys. Northview was defeated 3-1 by Johns Creek in the boys Region championship to earn the No. 2 seed. On the girls side, top seed Cambridge defeated Northview 3-0 on March 28 in the Region tournament to give the Titans the No. 3 seed. The Titans scored a 3-1 in over Region 7’s No. 2 seed North Atlanta in the semis.
In Class AAAAA, two-time defending state champion Chamblee will take on Kell in the girls finals, while the Chamblee boys are paired up with Grady. North Oconee will also be looking to sweep the titles in Class AAAA after both programs accomplished the feat last season. The North Oconee girls are searching for a fourth-consecutive crown against Marist, while the boys are looking to defending their program’s first state title against 4-time state champion Woodward Academy.
Class AAA will see top seed Pace Academy go up against Region 5 No. 2 seed Lovett in both the boys and girls finals. Two-time defending girls champion Bleckley County and Berrien stage the Class AA finals with Rockmart and Early County meeting in the boys finals in a matchup that guarantee that a first-time state champion will be crowned.
Seminole County knocked off two-time defending state champion Irwin County in the quarterfinals and defeated Commerce 3-1 to set up a showdown with 2016 state champion Telfair County in Class A-Public boys and Miller County and Telfair County will compete for their program’s first-ever state titles in Class A-Private girls.
In Class A-Private, the reigning state champion Walker girls face 2017 state champion Brookstone and two-time defending state champion Stratford Academy meets 2016 state champion Paideia in the boys finals.
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