Tennis: Lady Generals advance to second round for first time

For the first time in Heritage’s nineyear history, the Lady Generals won a firstround state tennis tournament match.

Heritage took down the visiting Madison County Lady Red Raiders, 3-0, in their Class AAAA state opener on the strength of a singles win and a sweep in doubles.

Caroline Horsley won at No. 1 singles, 6-1, 6-1, over Alden Loftis. The No. 1 team of Reagan Christol and Katelyn Burns dispatched Emily Dixon and Katie Colquitt, 6-2, 6-2, while the team of Erin Hulsey and Kinsey Hargis took down Bree Strickland and Savannah Butler, 6-3, 6-1.”

“This feels awesome; I’m proud of them,” Heritage coach Jeff Green said. “They play with a lot of heart. We knew Madison was going to be tough. We saw them warming up and we said ‘hey we have a chance to play with them.’ We got out there and jumped on them pretty quick, but they had a long way to come though driving a three- or four-hour bus ride, then get off the bus and warm up for 20 minutes. So it’s hard for them. We’ve been in that situation before too. But I am proud of them.”

The Lady Generals were slated to host No. 2-seeded Druid Hills on Monday in the second round, but results were not able to be included in today’s edition.

The fate of the Heritage boys’ team was quite the opposite, however, as they were eliminated from the state tournament on Wednesday with a 3-0 loss to the St. Pius X Golden Lions.

No. 1 singles players’ Patrick Huff defeated Leo Pence 6-3, 3-1, while No. 2 singles player Jack Carson ousted Tim Grayson 6-2, 2-1 and No. 3 singles John Bryan beat Davis Kilgo 6-1, 6-0.

No. 1 doubles players’ Owen Weikert and Matt Francis defeated Mark Crane and Shaw Boland 6-0, 6-1 and No. 2 doubles players’ Daniel Schwaner and Sebastian Giraldo won over Blake Richardson and Ethan Bone 6-0, 6-1.

The Generals finished the season with a record of 9-5.