| Lady Jackets earn first district team title |
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The Greenfield Lady Jacket tennis team has won its first District 14 A-AA regular season title. The Lady Jackets won their final three matches of the 2008 season against Union City, Westview and Peabody to secure first place in the district. Greenfield finished the 2008 season with a school best record of 12-1.
The Lady Jackets managed such a strong showing despite never having a “homecourt” advantage. The Lady Jackets play all their matches “away” because there are no tennis courts in city of Greenfield.
The Lady Jackets are led by the sophomore duo of Katie McCall and Mallory Robinson, both of which had perfect 13-0 singles records and were also undefeated playing together in doubles competition.
“Katie and Mallory played good steady tennis all season,” Greenfield tennis coach Bill McCall said. “Having two good players like Katie and Mallory on the same team is a luxury. Katie has been playing tennis since age 4 and is a natural. Mallory began playing tennis in 2006. She has picked up the game extremely fast and has turned into a tough competitor. We expect her to keep getting better.”
Summer Hoke had a very good year with an excellent 10-2 singles mark.
Melissa McCartney won every singles match in which she competed but one for an outstanding 11-1 record. Hoke and McCartney played well together in doubles winning all their matches except for one. Rounding out the top five for GHS is Natalie Medling, who finished the season with a sparkling 9-2 singles record.
“Hoke, McCartney and Medling, all juniors, have worked very hard to improve their games since last season. That helped them win some big matches for us this time around which made a huge difference in our season,” McCall said.
Taren Hatcher, a senior, had a good year at No. 6 with a 7-3 singles mark.
“Taren was a sophomore when she first learned to play tennis and is our first team member to leave by graduating. We will miss her next season,” the GHS coach said.
Hannah Rawls is a junior who has improved her game since last season. She had a lot of success this season finishing with a singles mark of 8-1 while playing in the No. 7 spot. Rawls first picked up a tennis racquet and began competing in 2006.
Haley Perkins, another sophomore on the young team, took up the game of tennis in February of 2008. A fast learner, she has improved dramatically since then. Playing in the No. 8 spot, she had a 7-2 record this year.
Greenfield’s youngest player, eighth-grader Taylor Hatcher, had a 5-1 singles record this season. Like Perkins, Taylor Hatcher just picked up a tennis racquet for the first time in February of this year.
McCall and Robinson were two of the top seeds entering the District 14 A-AA singles competition. McCall was seeded No. 1 while Robinson was the No. 3 seed. Two Lady Jacket doubles teams were entered: Hoke/McCartney and Taren Hatcher/Rawls. Hoke and McCartney are the No. 3 seed in the doubles tournament.
At a site and date to be determined, the Lady Jackets will play in the regional team competition against the winner from District 13 A-AA. |
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