On Friday, April 5, West Lauderdale’s tennis team completed their first-round playoff match with a 7-0 victory over the North Pontotoc Vikings.
Sophomore Olivia Shirley and her doubles partner, freshman Lexi Bryce Vinet, overcame a 0-4 deficit in the first set to win the match 6-4, 6-2. Shirley said they had to “come together and find [their] momentum” in order to come back from their rocky start.
Vinet said that even though “[they] started off a bit slow,” after a “pep talk from Coach Mazzella [they] regrouped and took their time with each point” so they could win the match.
Both Girls Singles, Emma Bounds, and Line 2 Boy Doubles, Jaxon Hatcher and Noah Rank, ended their matches in a 6-0, 6-1 victory. Mixed Doubles, Grant Butler and Kate Smith overcame the Vikings with a 6-0, 6-4 win. Katherine Bounds and Elizabeth Shirley who play Line 1 Girls Doubles won their match 6-2, 6-0. Hayden Williams and Miles McAlister played Line 1 Boys Doubles and won their match with a score of 6-3, 6-1. Boys Singles player, Brayden Combs, also defeated his opponent 6-3, 6-1.
The Knights will face Itawamba Agricultural High School in the second-round of playoffs on Monday, April 15.
