GAINESVILLE -- Gainesville tennis experienced both highs and lows in the same day on Thursday, as the Red Elephants finished off a two-day state playoff match with a victory over Woodland, while the Lady Elephants saw their unbeaten run come to an end in a defeat by Northview.
Gainesville's girls battled Northview for every point, as each match stretched to three sets before the Lady Red Elephants fell 3-0 in the second round of the Class AAAAA bracket.
Defeats at No. 1 and 3 singles and at No. 1 doubles sealed the Lady Red Elephants' first loss of the campaign at 21-1.
"Each player did the best she could, and that's all you can ask," Gainesville coach Kellie Smith said. "They were the better team today, but it was so close. We knew today would be tough, and I feel like if we had won today we could have made it to the championship match. They are that good."
Gainesville's girls graduate just one player from this year's team, doubles standout Martha McKinnon, and Smith believes the remaining standouts will work that much harder to improve on this year's campaign, which also included the Region 8-AAAAA championship.
"They saw how close we were today," Smith said. "This should drive them to work harder, and we've got some young talent coming up too."
Meanwhile, Gainesville's boys will take their own shot at Northview on Monday after winning in a first round match that featured a sweep of the doubles points.
Alec Zais and Nick Dillard prevailed 6-2, 6-2 at No. 1 doubles for the Red Elephants, while the No. 2 team of Trevor Munn and Charles Calkins won 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.
Gainesville's Reagan Williams also swept to a 6-2, 6-0 victory at No. 3 singles to help clinch the second round date.
The Red Elephants will begin play at 3 p.m. Monday against the No. 1 seed from Region 7-AAAAA.
Thursday
May 8th, 2025
2:45PM
