Bryan County’s senior laden girls’ tennis team accomplished something no other Redskins squad had Tuesday when it rolled to a 4-1 win over Wilcox County in the opening round of the Class A-DII state tournament.
By cruising past the Patriots, Coach Laura Blair’s team reached the Sweet 16 for the fourth straight year–an unprecedented accomplishment for any Bryan County team regardless of the sport.
The match was played on the Redskins’ home courts marking only the second time in school history it had hosted a state tournament match. It did so last year when it defeated East Laurens, 3-2.
Bryan County, which finished second to Screven County in the Region 3 race, will be looking to kick down the door to the Elite 8 on Monday when it plays at No. 1 seed Taylor County.
The No. 2 seed boys team will be looking to advance, too, when it also makes the trip to Butler to take on the Vikings who won the boys Region 6 title. Bryan County’s boys advanced to the second round by way of a first-round forfeit win over Hawkinsville which could not field a full team.
No Bryan County tennis team has ever reached the Elite Eight.
“They’ll have to go out determined and do what they did today,” said Blair, in her 11th year as the tennis coach, when asked what it will take for the girls to get over the hump. “They’ve gone through some hard things this season and proved some things to themselves.
“They can do it and if they go with that mindset on Monday they’ll have a strong chance.”
Blair has seven seniors on the girls team, all of whom were Sweet 16 participants as freshmen, and with the exception of her No. 2 doubles team they won handily.
Caycelyn Davis (8-5), who teamed with Jada Conley last year as a dominant doubles team, now plays No. 1 singles and she dominated her opponent, winning 6-0 and 6-1. Emma Strickland (9-4) won 6-0, 6-1 at No. 2 singles and Conley (10-2) won 6-1, 6-1 at No. 3 singles.
In doubles the No. 1 team of Lilly Coffey and Kayla Kilmer (2-5) grinded out a 6-4 win and then closed their match with a solid 6-0 win. The No. 2 doubles team of Aubri Martin and Ella Bishop (6-2) lost in the final match of the day.
The win upped the girls team record to 10-4 with two of the losses being 3-2 decisions to region champion Screven and Islands. Other losses were to Screven (5-0) and South Effingham (5-0).
Going into state tournament play GHSA power rankings had Bryan County’s girls ranked No. 7 in the state and the boys (8-5) ranked No. 9. Screven County’s boys and girls teams were both ranked No. 1.
While the girls are right where they expected to be at the beginning of the season it has been a journey for the boys. Up until last year the Redskins had not fielded a full boys’ team in five years and this year’s team has only one senior in Xi’Yon James.
Junior Drew Long plays No. 1 singles while sophomores Cameron Kilmer and Jackson Gay are No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. James joins sophomore Andy Ryle to form the No. 1 doubles team and sophomores Chase Truxall and Ray Metz play No. 2 doubles.
Blair’s next job is getting together a scouting report on the Taylor County teams and she has a variety of resources at her disposal, she said.
“You network, you talk to other coaches,” Blair said. “You get videos of their matches on social media. It’s definitely network, word of mouth trying to get what you can. Sometimes you know someone who has played them. You just get as much as you can gather.”
While the boys are young and finding their way when the girls step on the court Monday they won’t be all bug-eyed and in awe. They’ve been there before. Their biggest challenge will be themselves with a chance to make more school history.