Several local qualifiers prepared for State Sectionals
played the best team we’ve played all year, and we looked a little nervous. We needed the balls to bounce our way, but we never could grasp momentum.
“Looking at it, we got to the Elite Eight last year, and we made it back this year. I told the guys that we need to continue to work harder if we want to get better and make it past that point. As hard as it is to think about next season after a loss like this, next season starts tomorrow.”
In the Calhoun boys second-round match on Monday:
Calhoun 3, Appling County 0
The Jackets kept their season alive on Monday with a second-round win at home over a gritty Appling County team.
Calhoun (19-1) earned wins at No. 1 singles from Cameron LeBoeuf (6-2, 6-1), at No. 3 singles from Luke McKenzie (6-2, 6-2) and at No. 2 doubles from Rucker Reeves and Mat- thew McCanless (6-3, 6-2). They were also up at No. 1 doubles (Aaron Lively, Matthew Turner) when the match was pulled.
“Appling County came ready to play, and we talked about it before the match that the first sets would set the tone,” said Calhoun coach Brian Proffitt. “Our guys settled down and turned the momentum around with a few incredible points.
“We’re confident as a team. We’re going back to where we were last year in the Elite Eight. We’re happy to be back, but we’ve got to be ready and confident again against Pace Academy. We can’t be too high. We’ve got to find that medium because we know Pace Academy will be a very good team. We feel confident. We respect them, but we’ll be ready and see what happens.”
The Jackets’ victory set up a Class AAA Elite Eight matchup at home against Pace Academy on Wednesday.