Bryan County tennis coach Laura Blair must be beating her head against the wall in trying to figure out what it’s going to take to get one of her teams into the Elite Eight of the state tennis tournament.

For the fourth consecutive year the girls team reached the Sweet 16 and for the fourth straight year they came up short when it came to advancing. The girls’ and the boys’ teams both saw their season come to an end Monday when they dropped matches to Taylor County in the Class A-DII state playoffs.

Playing at Taylor County as a No. 2 seed the girls lost 3-2 while the boys were blanked, 3-0, by the Vikings who were a No. 1 seed for having won Region 6. Bryan County finished second in Region 3 in both girls and boys to Screven County. Both Gamecocks teams, incidentally, are in the Elite Eight.

“The girls lost a nail-biter of a match,” Blair said. “Jada (Conley) and Emma (Strickland) won fairly quickly. Caycelyn (Davis) played a tremendous match. It was neck-and-neck and she was the last one on the court.”

Davis was playing No. 1 singles for the Redskins while Strickland was No. 2 and Conley was No. 3. The No. 1 doubles team of Lilly Coffey and Kayla Kilmer and the No. 2 doubles team of Aubri Martin and Ella Bishop also lost their matches.

While Davis couldn’t pull out her match Blair had nothing but praise for her girls team which was an all-senior group.

“These senior girls have had a huge influence on the program with their leadership, determination and desire to win,” Blair said. “They consistently encourage each other and pick each other up.

“As soon as Jada and Emma came off the court, they were pacing the length of the courts cheering on their teammates and checking on them,” Blair said. “As others came off, they did the same.

“They rally around each other so well. They are certainly leaving big shoes to fill.”

While Blair will be putting an all-new girls team on the courts next year, the boys program is ready to extend the run it started this season.

Drew Long played No. 1 singles this year as a junior. Everyone else in the lineup with the exception of Xi’Yon James is a sophomore with Cameron Kilmer at No. 2 singles and Jackson Gay at No. 3. James, a senior, teamed with Andy Ryle to form the No. 1 doubles team and No. 2 doubles was Chase Truxall and Ray Metz.

“I can see the makings of some new leaders in the boys,” Blair said. “I’m excited about their future.”