A violation of the substitution rules has caused the GHSA to overturn the Class AAA girls tennis championship, taking the title from Westminster and making Savannah Arts the winner.
The incident occurred at Saturday's state championship matches. Wesminster's regular No. 3 singles player, Abbie Seitz, had a medical emergency and could not play. Westminster used Cyan D'Anjou from its No. 2 doubles team to take her place and D'Anjou won the decisive point.
But Savannah Arts filed a formal protest with the GHSA asking for a review, citing a rule that has been place since the GSHA went to its current team format in 1989.
In the GHSA Constitution and By-Laws, Rule B.1.d governing tennis, states: "A player listed as a singles player on the playoff roster shall not switch over to doubles competitions in any later round, or vice versa."
Westminster had four alternatives on the roster and could have used any of them to fill the vacancy at No. 3 singles. But ran afoul of the rule by taking a doubles player and moving her to singles. The GHSA said Westminster admitted the mistake and apologized for the error.
The penalty for the illegal substitution is forfeiture of that No. 3 singles line, meaning that Westminster’s 3-2 match victory is reversed, giving Savannah Arts Academy a 3-2 win and the AAA title.
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