North Hall girls tennis coach Patricia Zaudtke says it's been almost a decade since her Lady Trojans made the state playoffs.
In the case of this year's team that means before a few members were even in school, and the Lady Trojans are more than ready to write a new legacy.
"It's been an amazing year because these girls are so young," Zaudtke said. "I don't have a single senior or junior on the team. Every one of them are freshmen and sophomores.
"They have all played beyond their years."
Indeed, the Lady Trojans' results bear the mark of grizzled veterans, as North Hall enters tomorrow's Region 7-AAA championships with a 15-3 record and the league's No. 1 seed, having swept through 7-AAA play.
"They're confident, motivated and ready," Zaudtke said of a team that includes singles players Natalie Oxley, Kelsey McCray and Tricia Dial and doubles teams of Hannah Gibson/Kaitlyn Smith and Courtney Barnes/McKay Higginbotham. "They give their heart in each match and each practice. They are just wonderful girl, and they're determined to be state champions before the graduate."
Before taking that leap, the Lady Trojans must first get through the 7-AAA tourney that will take place at the Bobby Bailey Tennis Center (Alberta Banks Park) in Flowery Branch. The top-seeded Lady Trojans will begin play at 9 a.m. Tuesday and know that a huge finale could await against second-seeded Buford on Wednesday.
"The whole tournament will be a challenge, and Buford is a very strong team," said Zaudtke, whose team won at No. 3 singles and swept the doubles points to edge the Lady Wolves in the regular season -- with four of the five matches going three sets.
The North Hall girls represent just one of numerous intriguing storylines this week, as a number of area teams get their region tournaments underway.
On the boys side of 7-AAA, Buford enters as the No. 1 seed, with West Hall just one match behind as the No. 2 seed -- the Spartans only defeat coming against the Wolves -- and North Hall in third place with just two region setbacks.
Meanwhile, the Region 8-AAAAA tournament will also begin match play on Tuesday, as boys and girls squads split time between Flowery Branch High and C.W. Davis Middle School.
The Gainesville boys and girls have controlled both divisions this season, with the Lady Red Elephants putting together one of the most dominant campaigns in recent memory, rampaging through an impressive undefeated streak that also included a victory in the Wildcat Invitational tournament in Duluth.
Brinkley Frankum, Georgia Summer, Katherine Wright, Katherine Anderson, Lauren Carter, Morgan Merce, Martha McKinnon and Sally Callahan combined to help Gainesville impress in its first regular season in Class AAAAA.
The Lady Red Elephants could face a big showdown with Flowery Branch for the region crown, as the two programs have cruised past every program in region play -- save each other. Gainesville has won two matches against the Lady Falcons. But each was close, and Flowery Branch coach Ginger Jackson believes her team is improving with each outing.
"We've got a young team with a bunch of girls in new spots, but they're young and fired up and ready to play," Jackson said. "Gainesville has a great team; I think they've only dropped four sets in region play all season. We've only dropped eight."
The Gainesville boys have also cruised for much of the campaign, building a 15-3 record behind players like Jackson Goble, Graham McKinnon and Reagan Williams in singles and the doubles play of Alec Zais/Nick Dillard and Charles Calkins/Trevor Munn.
The Region 8-AAAA tournament will get going on Wednesday at Madison County High, as Chestatee, Johnson, Stephens County and Lumpkin County look to battle their way into state.
The Chestatee girls and Stephens County boys enter with first round byes, as the two programs finished as the No. 2 seeds in the north half of 8-AAAAA. The Stephens County girls and Chestatee boys are also No. 3 seeds, while Johnson's teams are the fourth seeds in both divisions.
Saturday
May 10th, 2025
1:14AM
