ROME - Three of the five defending girls tennis champions successfully defended their titles on Saturday at the Rome Tennis Center at Berry College.
In Class 6A, Marist won its fifth consecutive championship. In 5A, Northview made in three in a row. In 3A, Wesleyan capped an undefeated season to win its third straight championship.
Class 7A: West Forsyth 3, Milton 2
The Wolverines won their first state championship to give coach Steve Kolkka a fitting retirement present.
“It was not a surprise,” Kolkka said. “I knew this was a special group when they came in four years ago. I’ve been (to the state finals) many times and I know what it takes and I thought this group had that possibility. So we worked and worked for four years.”
West Forsyth had to beat mighty Walton to get to the championship game and earned a rematch with Milton, whom it beat for the second time with the same lineup.
West Forsyth got a win at No. 2 singles from Brooklyn Hoffmann, the No. 1 doubles team of Ellie Sceney and Mary Bowron, and the No. 2 team of Isla Soeney and Mia Laidman.
The No. 1 doubles team was undefeated this season and the No. 2 team has been unbeaten for the last two years.
Credit: Stan Awtrey
Credit: Stan Awtrey
Class 6A: Marist 3, Lakeside-Evans 0
The War Eagles made it five in a row with a dominant performance.
“It shows our hard work and dedication paid off,” said Marist coach Jose Gregory. “I believe in my team. They’re probably the best group of girls I’ve had in my 20 years experience as a coach.”
Sabritt Dozier, who missed part of the season with an injury, came back to win at No. 1 singles. The War Eagles also won at No. 1 doubles (Ashlyn Taylor and Bella Ferrer) and No. 2 doubles (Claudie Derazi and Lauren Parker).
“You know, tennis is an individual sports, so when you’re playing at the high school level, it’s all about trying to foster a team mentalisty,” Gregory said. “That has really worked well for us.”
Credit: Stan Awtrey
Credit: Stan Awtrey
Class 5A: Northview 3, Cambridge 2
The Titans relied on their dominance in singles to win their third straight state championship, the first for rookie coach Kevin McCall, who expected a war after requiring four hours to win in the semifinals.
“I think a lot of people looked past us because we lost our No. 3 singles girl (Athithi Ayyappan) before the region playoffs, so we finished fourth in the region,” McCall said. “Everybody thought they had us, but she came back or the end of region and state playoffs.”
Ayyappan was won of the winners in the championship. The Titans also got wins from No. 1 Claire Brown and No. 2 Jigisha Singh.
“That’s what we were counting on,” McCall said. “I think the singles girls don’t like to hear that because there’s a lot of pressure, but that’s what I was counting on.”
Credit: Stan Awtrey
Credit: Stan Awtrey
Class 4A: Westminster 3, Pace Academy 0
The Wildcats denied rival Pace Academy a fifth straight championship in dominating fashion. Westminster won state in 2022, but were knocked out one game short of reaching the final a year ago.
“Totally redeemed ourselves for losing in the semifinals last year,” coach Liesel Good said. “We’re thrilled to have another state championship under our belt and we’re looking forward to the next couple of years because we have a lot of strong girls coming through the pipeline.”
Westminster got a win at No. 3 singles from Izzie Piedad, who stepped in there after an injury to Piper Johnson, the team’s No. 1 player. The next two singles players slide up a spot at won – Mims Petit at No. 1 and Shea Petit at No. 2.
“This team has been solid and they’re a great bunch of girls who have lots of fun together and are really intentional about including everybody. I couldn’t be more proud of them today,” Good said.
Credit: Stan Awtrey
Credit: Stan Awtrey
Class 3A: Wesleyan 3, Oconee County 0
The Wolves completed an undefeated season and won their third straight state championship. Wesleyan won at No. 1 singles with Sophie Gibbs, No. 2 singles with Lauren Tucker and No. 2 doubles with Kate Stolle and Ava Singh.
“I think we were kind of surprised as how this team dominated throughout the season,” coach Johathan Sykes said. “We played some really good opponents and took care of our business throughout the season. Today we felt confident, but we also wanted to know it could be a struggle, because we didn’t really struggle a bunch this season but wanted them to know that today could be the team , so you have to play hard. They did a great job.”
It was a special win for Gibbs, who has signed to play at Berry and competed on her future college courts.
Credit: Stan Awtrey
Credit: Stan Awtrey
Class 2A: Brantley County 3, Jeff Davis 2
The Brantley County supporters were donned in T-shirts that said “Make History.” The Herons did, too, by knocking off the defending state champions and winning their first team title in school history.
“We had a pretty good group of seniors and juniors and they put in a lot of work in the offseason and this is where is pays off,” said coach Patrick Stieve.
Beating Jeff Davis was a big hurdle for Brantley, who had lost to the Yellow Jackets three times in the last two years.
“Brantley tennis is about running every ball down,” Stieve said. “It’s about making your opponent have to hit your ball. That’s kind of our style of play. What is all comes down to is we’re going to outplay you, regardless of your strokes, regardless of your UTR score. We’re fixing to get after you for sure.”
Brantley County won with Brooklyn Wilder at No. 1 singles, Raylee Strickland at No. 2 single and the No. 1 doubles team of Chasadee Waldron and Summer Colley.
Credit: Stan Awtrey
Credit: Stan Awtrey
Class A Division I: Mount Vernon Academy 3, Atlanta International 2
Junior Daniela O’Leary, a Villanova commit, came back to win the final two sets and lift her team to its first championship since 1992 and avenge last year’s championship-round loss.
“We had big dreams when the season started, but our No. 1 singles girl tore her ACL and MCL in July, so the dream faded a little,” coach Sheldon Staples said. “But we found people and gave other people an opportunity to step up and make some changes. And it all came together. I cannot be more proud of the girls.”
Mount Vernon also won at both doubles: Hunter Reese Giardino and Brooke Nazarian at No. 1 and Sofia Tur and Taylor Gravely at No. 2.
Credit: Stan Awtrey
Credit: Stan Awtrey
Class A Division II: Lake Oconee Academy 3, Telfair County 2
The Titans completed their magical run through the playoffs to win the school’s first championship. They won their region title thanks to a tiebreaker, which provided a first-round bye. Lake Oconee Academy beat last year’s runner-up and state champion along the way.
“It was a tough grind,” said LOA coach Thomas Imhof. “It was a great run.”
The key was the emergence of the doubles teams, who joined the ever-steady singles lineup.
“The girls just came together at the right time,” Imhof said. “The doubles just peaked at the right time. They came together as two units and their confidence paid off.”
Lake Oconee Academy got wins from No. 3 singles Anika Imhof, the No. 1 doubles team of Riley Payne and Jaime Beatty and the No. 2 team of Lainee Carter and Mary Claire McCommerce.
“It was very unexpected, but they deserve it,” Imhof said. “We had a game plan and they practiced it and stuck with it. So very exciting.”
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