Colquitt sweeps Bainbridge in tennis
Published 10:17 pm Tuesday, March 14, 2006
MOULTRIE — They didn’t know it at the time, but Jessica Harvin and Savanna Lamon, Colquitt County’s No. 2 doubles team, came up with the biggest victory of their brief tennis careers on Tuesday.
The Lady Packers’ match with Bainbridge was tied 2-2 with Lamon and Harvin still battling Jordan Pointevint and McCall Mason.
When the two Lady Packers finally put the Bainbridge pair away in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2, they looked happy. But not as if they just given their team a win that avenged a 2-3 loss to the Lady Cats 10 days ago.
That’s because the two sophomores, the youngest of the Lady Packers top seven, were unaware that they were the deciding point.
And not only did their match give the Lady Packers a victory, it completed a sweep of Bainbridge. The Colquitt County boys team had already completed a 3-2 win over the Bearcats.
The Colquitt County boys also had lost 2-3 to Bainbridge in the March 4 consolation match of the Tifton Rotary Tournament.
The Colquitt County girls actually were down 1-2 with the No. 2 doubles match and Monique Murphy’s No. 3 singles match against Athena Rogers still being played.
Murphy did her part, winning in three sets, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, to set up sophomores’ big victory.
Murphy’s point was the one the Lady Packers lacked when they met Bainbridge in Tifton. She fell to Rogers 5-7, 6-3, 3-10 (tie-break) that day.
“Monique battled it out when we had to have her,” Lady Packers coach Linda Berl said.
The Colquitt girls also won at No. 2 singles, where Lindsay Jacobs defeated McKale Fleming 6-3, 6-2, for the second time.
Bainbridge won at No. 2 singles, where Erica Humphrey defeated Landi Clark 6-2, 6-3, and at No. 1 doubles, where Larsen Wilkerson and Jessica Monk again won over Gracie Qurnell and Anne Yearta, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.
“We’re evenly matched,” Berl said. “And we may meet again.” Colquitt County will play in Bainbridge Rotary Tournament on March 24-25.
In extra matches, Dresden Melton and Meghan Traylor won in doubles 8-3; Carli Hester and Katie Weilbrenner won in doubles, 8-6; Cara McCalley and Kayla Kelly won 8-3; and Laura Murphy won a singles match 8-3.
Colquitt County boys coach Grant Hammack tweaked his lineup just enough to get the point that reversed the 2-3 score the Packers lost to Bainbridge by earlier in the month.
Zach Owen moved from No. 1 to No. 2 singles and defeated Jason Griffin 6-0, 6-2, to lead the 3-2 victory.
“Zach may have played the best he has played all season,” Hammack said.
The Packers also won at No. 3 singles where Shaun Soderstrom continues to do impressive work. He defeated Logan Fowler 6-4, 6-1.
The Packers took No. 2 doubles again, with Tanner Vereen and Barclay Mitchell knocking off Brent Aikens and Chris Holt, 6-3, 6-2.
Colquitt lost at No. 1 singles, where Austin York fell to Tripp Powell, 0-6, 0-6, and at No. 1 doubles, where Bradley Michie and Chris Harvin lost to Blake Brock and Abe Varner 0-6, 1-6.
Zach Clifton won an extra singles match 8-3.
“I thought we matched up better this way,” Hammack said. “I think it was a confidence-builder for us and we needed it with Valdosta nad Houston County coming up.”
The victory was just the second for the Packers, but Hammack said he hoped for better play in the second half of the season. “A lot of it is confidence,” he said. “They’re still learning how to win and what it takes to win.”