VHS Tennis Plays In Region Tourney
Courtesy of VHS
The Vidalia High School tennis teams played in the Region Tournament last week in Savannah with the boys taking 2nd in the Region and the girls finishing in 4th place in the Region. boys
The boys ended their regular season Region play with a strong performance on Tuesday of last week at Bacon Park in Savannah securing 2nd Place in Region 3A-1.
The boys first round was with Savannah Christian, a team the boys had defeated earlier in the season 4-1. Even though the boys got off to a slow start with the 1st and 2nd singles falling behind early in the match, Caleb Beck won the 2nd set and won the tie breaker 10-5. Larsen Carter came back in the first set to win 7-5 and then completed the victory in the 2nd set 6-4.
The 1st and 2nd Doubles teams both lost their 1st set, but battled back to take their matches to a tie-breaker. Ryker Hyers and Cooper Mc-Callum played their best tennis when they fought off three consecutive match points to bring the tie-breaker to 10 all. They continued to put pressure on their opponents until they reached the 2 point margin for the victory.
The 2nd Doubles team of Kingston Schwyzer and Sam Cooper had an almost identical match, losing the 1st set, winning the 2nd and then, in a dramatic comefrom- behind match, they won the tie-breaker 1210. The boys were on their way to a 5-0 shutout when Stone Smith at 3rd Singles won his 1st set. However, the match was ended early since the boys had secured 3 wins putting them in the championship round with Savannah Country Day.
Even though the boys team played well, they couldn’t overcome the strength of the Savannah team. Caleb Beck won his first set and came within a few points of winning the match before dropping a tie-breaker. The boys would go on to lose 2nd Singles and 1st Doubles. The loss meant the boys would go home with the Region Runnerup trophy, an accomplishment the boys had not attained in a number of years.
Girls
In their first round match, the girls team, lead by 1st Singles, Laylah Brantley, defeated Swainsboro 3-2. Winning for the Lady Indians included Layla Brantley at 1st Singles, Hannah Nichols at 3rd Singles, and Deidra Boston and Sadie Berry at 1st Doubles.
They advanced to play in the 2nd Round against the number one seed, Savannah Country Day. Again, the team fought well but couldn’t overcome the skill of the Lady Hornets.
In the consolation match, Vidalia faced another Savannah private school, St. Vincent’s Academy. The girls lost in a another very close match 2-3. At first Singles, Laylah Brantley lost in a 3rd set tie breaker 10-8, and after losing the two double matches, Saint Vincent’s had the needed 3 wins to take 3rd place in the Region. In the girls final victory of the afternoon, Elizabeth Sowell, at 2nd Singles, came from behind to win in a 3rd set tie breaker 119.
Coaches Gillies and McLeod were extremely proud of how the boys and girls teams played in the tournament, rising above some pretty difficult times to achieve the runner position for the boys and 4th place for the girls.
Next up is the first round of the State Tournament. VHS opponents, location and match dates and time will be announced on April 18.
