Colquitt County tennis teams continue to prepare for tournament

Published 11:39 am Monday, March 27, 2023

MOULTRIE, Ga. – Supplementing their season with non-region matches, Colquitt County tennis competed in the Golden Isle Get Together on Friday and then hosted Lawton Chiles High School from Tallahassee, Fla., on Thursday.

The Packers placed second at Golden Isle and the Lady Packers got third. During the match against Chiles, the Packers came up short 2-3 and the Lady Packers won 3-2.The Golden Isle Get Together was originally supposed to be a two-day tournament, but because of weather the official tournament got canceled.

Four of the schools registered for the tournament decided to have an impromptu match on Friday before the storm hit so the athletes could still play, hence the Golden Isle Get Together. To help beat the weather, the get together was only played with a single set, and each school played two matches.

The Packers competed against Jeff Davis and Glynn Academy, splitting their matches. Their winning match was 3-2 against Jeff Davis, seeing wins in both doubles and in one single match. Mark Breedlove won his set 8-0.Marco Lorenzo and Parker Anderson won 8-4, while the other doubles team of Bailee Fountain and Dean Nguyen won 8-6.

“Mechanically we are playing really well,” said Packers head coach Mell Wier. “We just need to clean up some of our decision making during plays.” The Lady Packers almost mimicked the Packers. They also competed against Jeff Davis and Glynn Academy, and they also split their wins. The only difference is they won 3-2 against Glynn Academy and lost 2-3 against Jeff Davis. When they played Jeff Davis, two singles players and one doubles team took victories. Eva Barnett won 8-4 and Emily Lampman won 8-2. Doubles team of Odessa Dixon and Candace Moses won 8-2.

“I’m really glad we got to play,” said Lady Packers head coach Amber Day. “We play in a competitive region and we do our best to schedule top teams for out-of-region play.”

Getting better luck from nature during their match against Chiles, the Packers and Lady Packers faced the Timberwolves at Packer Park on Thursday. “I’m just letting the seniors have fun today,” said Day. “This is the first time they have done a full three sets in a while because of the weather.” The Lady Packers won with a sweep from all three singles players.

Barnett won 6-1, 6-3; Ada Craft won 6-3, 6-1; and Lampman won 6-1, 6-0. “I have seen growth among many of the first-year varsity players,” said Day. “It is a promising sign of where we can go as a team.” Losing 2-3, the Packers put up a good match.

“It was a strong Chiles team,” said Wier, who went on to explain that in Florida a player can compete in both doubles and singles, whereas in Georgia an athlete must choose. “I think it gives an advantage because then you can get your better players on the court twice.”

This also gives teams from Florida the chance to reorganize their lineup to their best advantage when in a position they can only play once, like the match between Chiles and Colquitt County.

For example, the doubles team of Anderson and Jack Taunton were competing against the top two singles players for Chiles who were chosen to play doubles in this match. Both sets ended 1-6, in favor of Chiles.

“Their coach told me he had to put more thought into the lineup,” said Wier. “Since they (athletes) could only play once in this match.” Winning for the Packers were singles players Breedlove and Ty Hurst.

“Mark and Ty played really well,” said Wier. “They got ahead early and didn’t let up.” Breedlove won 6-1 in both sets while Hurst had a double shutout at 6-0 for his sets. “I think we are in a good place,” said Wier. “We just have to be more consistent throughout the match.”

The Packers and Lady Packers will have one final non-region match against Thomasville during their senior night at Packer Park on Tuesday before the region tournament begins.

Then, on Thursday, also at Packer Park, the Lady Packers will play for the final spot in the region tournament as they are currently fourth. Being in third place, the Packers have already secured a berth in the region tournament that is held in April.