Girls Tennis On Fire

Vikings girls tennis takes 5A by storm with a stunning season performance

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Photo by A. Johnson

Doubles matches played a large role in the outcome of the season for the Vikings. The Varsity team finished undefeated in the conference.

Lars Harris, Sports Co-Editor

Stellar is nothing short of the Varsity Girls Tennis team’s season performance. Leading the conference with a a 7-0 record, they eventually finished with a 12-0 record before the State Championship, which was not an easy task at hand.

Starting with a strong performance in late August, the Lady Vikings walked away victorious with a 4-3 win over T.L Hanna. Strong performances were demonstrated by Sophie Clayton (11) won her matches 6-0, 6-0. The following Friday, the Vikings traveled to J.L. Mann posting up another victory 4-2. Clayton, Ava Mobley (12) and Louisa Lowry (11) scored points for the team.

Mauldin would be the Lady Vikings next destination, where they were victorious yet again. Individual winners included Clayton and Eva Pye (12), as well as Lowry and Mary English Hammett (9) in doubles. The Vikings continued their streak crushing Byrnes with a score of 7-0. Anna Beeson (11), Clayton, Mobley and Pye scored individually. Two doubles teams came out on top adding onto the score. Traveling to Gaffney the Vikings stayed ahead on the road with Beeson, Mobley, Pye, Lowry and Hammett all winning their matches.

The Vikings extended their shutout match streak defeating Boiling springs. Back to face Byrnes, the team showed their dominance dropping another 7-0 shutout victory.
Facing Gaffney again at home was nothing but a cake walk for this team already on an undefeated roll for the season winning 6-0. Dorman would be the team’s long awaited match being their rivals. The Lady Vikings did not disappoint putting up a score of 7-0 on their homecourt.  This match meant a lot to the team. Not only was it senior night, but it was a victory against a cross town rival.

“My favorite match was senior night against Dorman. Our team spirit was great, and we supported each other in every match,” Mobley said.

Almost finishing their regular season undefeated the team had two more matches against teams they faced before.  Boiling Springs was an inevitable victory winning 6-0.
Last regular season match for the Vikings before achieving a perfect record the Vikings prepared to face Dorman. Clayton, Mobley and Pye help round off a 6-1 victory over Dorman finishing the regular season with a perfect record. The support of the team was relentless that boosted the teams moral and lead to a successful season and creating long lasting memories.

The Vikings headed to the playoffs with high ambitions after a strong season. The team found success in the first round overwhelming Spring Valley with a score of 6-0. Going into the second round the team would face T.L. Hanna, who they had narrowly defeated early on during the season. The Vikings fought well but fell short this time around and brought their hot streaking season to an end.

Clayton lead the team throughout the season with stunning performances, and was named All-Region and All-State.

“We had a great combination of strong returing players and some new younger players who were also able to contribute to our successful season as well,” Clayton said.