May 2—NASHVILLE — Berrien High sent its longtime tennis courts off in style Tuesday, May 2, advancing to the GHSA Class AA tennis final four with a 3-1 victory over Model.

"I'm very proud of the girls," said head coach Jarrett Luke, who advances to his 10th ever final four with the squad, and his eighth since 2013. Next up is Pierce County in Blackshear, which will be played later this week. A specific date and time have not been arranged yet.

The victory is likely the last with on the courts near Hardee's in Nashville, which Berrien has used for years. New courts are being built on-campus and are slated to be ready in the fall.

"We're sending these old courts out a winner," Luke said.

And in dramatic fashion.

Karla Wiley and Kayla Wiley each won at singles for a 2-0 Berrien advantage. Karla won, 6-3, 6-2, with Kayla victorious at 6-2, 6-1.

Model got back into it with a doubles victory. Soon, two matches were in a race to the wire.

The Lady Blue Devils earned a first set victory of 6-2 over Emmi Warren and Kailey Griffin in doubles and at No. 1 singles, they had a set lead against Brooklyn Cersey.

Then Griffin and Warren won their second set, 7-5 via tiebreaker. A third set would big huge. Model could tie the score or Berrien would advance. It would not be easy.

Model was up 3-2 in the last set, but Warren and Griffin caught fire, winning the next for for a 6-3 set win, match win and, most importantly, Berrien win. Cersey was pulled from her match with victory in hand.

A big crowd of locals were on hand to watch Berrien advance, Luke said. He credited Model, who drove approximately five hours from Rome to play, for the competition. "Model had a good team," he said, adding his crew "fought hard."

On the other side of the bracket, Jeff Davis will play Brantley County, meaning that half the remaining teams are from Region 1-AA.