FLOWERY BRANCH -- Flowery Branch girls tennis coach Ginger Jackson imparted a simple philosophy to her Lady Falcons at the start of the state playoffs.
"I told them just to have fun and relish the wins," Jackson said. "I just wanted them to relax and get as far as they could."
Turns out there has been plenty to relish. The Lady Falcons whipped Villa Rica 3-0 in the second round of the Class AAAAA tournament on Monday in Flowery Branch -- an outcome that pushed that Branch into the quarterfinals and matched the program's best-ever postseason showing.
"It's just a good day to be a for tennis at Flowery Branch," Jackson said after watching her squad clinch the victory in a little over an hour with wins at both doubles slots and No. 3 singles -- all while dropping just two games -- en route to the team's first second round win in four years. "This will boost everybody's confidence and boost our program.
"We've been close (to reaching the quarterfinals) the last couple of years; we'd played well but just couldn't get the win. Today we just came out and played really well."
The Lady Falcons left no doubt, sweeping the doubles points in quick fashion. Flowery Branch's No. 1 team of Brooke Kane/Breanna Benton cruised to a 6-0, 6-0 win over Marissa Sitton/Micheala Holloway, while the No. 2 team of Kylie McGuire/Kaia Clark dumped Nancy Nalley/Summer Rand 6-1, 6-1. Peyton Brick sealed the second round with a 6-0, 6-0 defeat of Dana Perry at No. 3 singles.
"The crazy thing was that coming into the region tournament I wasn't quite sure of how this team was performing because we just hadn't been able to settle because of all the rain," Jackson said. "I didn't even have a settled line-up until the end of March. But they're playing beautifully now, and I hope this just fires them to want to keep winning. It's nothing to do with me though; it's all the girls. They work so hard, and they want to win."
The Lady Falcons know they'll need every ounce of their fire to progress again, as they prepare for a 24-hour tunraround against Cambridge in the Class AAAAA third round.
Cambridge knocked the Lady Falcons of the playoffs two years ago.
"It's going to be a tough challenge, but at this point of the season you need to beplaying tough teams," Jackson said.
Flowery Branch is scheduled to face Cambridge at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Flowery Branch High.
