New Albany wins Class 4A North over Pontotoc
Apr. 18—NEW ALBANY — The New Albany Bulldogs ran out to a 5-0 advantage and went on to defeat Pontotoc 5-2 in the Class 4A North Half championship on Tuesday.
They face the winner of Stone vs Newton County next week for the 4A state title.
The Bulldogs were led to the win by four seniors who paired up to win their courts and set the tone early.
Sarah Robbins and Gracie Mason won the girls doubles 1 court by 6-1, 6-0 scores over Aubree Berry/Piper McDonald.
"Definitely taking the net was key to our win today, I feel like that is one of the strongest things we do," Mason said.
"We've always set each other up really well so that the net player has the chance to end the point," Robbins added.
The partners shared how their strategy basically remains the same whether they play the same opponents from a previous meeting or if the opposing team decides to flop courts with another doubles pairing.
"I would say that we play the same strategy every time, but matches like these we just know that we've got to go in and take care of business and get out," Robbins said.
"It's definitely harder to play sometimes when you are used to playing 6A schools like Oxford and Tupelo," Mason said.
The other Bulldog seniors, Creekmore and Boyington, won the mixed doubles court 6-1, 6-3 over the Pontotoc pairing of Tay Thornton/Mollie Rackley.
"The keys today were just good serves, good returns and taking over the net," Boyington said.
"My ground strokes and my volleys were working well for me today," Creekmore said.
Heidi Clayton won one of the first matches for New Albany as she took the girls singles court by 6-0, 6-0 scores over Madison Clements.
Boys double 1 partners Gregory Nelson/Hunter Henson also won early 6-0, 6-0 over Tristan Ferguson/Matt Martin.
Boys doubles 2 winners for New Albany Carter Ladner/Matthew Durrett picked up a huge win over Chambers Lane/Landon Long by 6-0, 3-6, 10-6 scores.
Pontotoc came back to take the final two courts in some highly competitive tennis action.
Samantha McGregor/Heather Tedford won 5-7, 6-3, 10-6 over Caurie Clayton/Eva Aldridge in girls doubles 2.
Sawyer Ritchie defeated Bradyn Bowman 1-6, 7-5, 10-8 in boys singles.
"Our seniors stepped up, both clinched their courts and our ones have been playing some great tennis, New Albany coach Suzy Bowman said.
