Journey to State

A sea of purple bursts from the gates as the girls of the South tennis team begin warm-ups.

“To prepare for the tennis matches, the team normally runs a lap, stretches and then warms up with some serves and hits,” Sydney Dial, sophomore, said.

This is Individual Sectional finals; only four South girls made it to this round.  

The girls sit on the bleachers as the nerves bubble up waiting for their name to be called.

As their names are called the girls grab a couple of tennis balls and head to their assigned court.

The duos line up at the net to shake their opponent’s hand and spin a racket to determine who serves first.

“Love all first serve,” Vivien Hamilton yells as she starts off the match with her speechless serves.

Parents watch patiently waiting for the teams to finish up their many matches.

The score is 40-love, as doubles partners Hamilton and Chloe Norris have to score one more point to win the whole match. 

And that’s the game! 

With a couple of swings of the racket, Norris and Hamilton progress to State.

7-2 was the final score, beating STA and advancing to State on Oct. 24.