Lady Patriots Capture State Tennis Championship

The Mount Pisgah Christian School girls tennis team captured the GHSA Class A state championship on Saturday with a 3-0 win over Pace Academy. The Patriots, who entered the state tournament ranked No. 1, finished the season 19-0. This was the first state championship for the school in any sport since moving to GHSA five years ago.

"What a terrific feeling it was when Samantha Russell won the point that actually clinched the championship. It had looked like it was going to happen since early in the match but there was a surge of excitement from our team and all our supporters when it finally happened. There was a combination of tears and shrieks of joy – sometimes both at the same time," said head coach Ken Bomar.

The real excitement came in the semifinal match against No. 2 Brookstone, which Pisgah won 3-2. The Lady Patriots found themselves in an early hole, after losing both doubles matches.

"Brookstone was a mature, experienced team. They were all quite physically imposing – several were 5-8 to 5-11 tall and did not look like kids,” said Bomar. “They were strong at every position and were obviously the toughest test we had all season.”

Taylor Carlson got the Patriots on the board winning her match at No. 3 singles 6-2, 6-0. Russell tied the score with a 6-4, 6-3 win at No. 2 singles, which left things up to freshman Aryn Greene in the No. 1 singles position. Greene lost the first set 6-7 (9-7) to senior and Notre Dame signee Katherine White.

“When I found out I was the last match I was excited. I thought it would be cool to all come down on me. I felt like I could handle the pressure,” Greene said. “I tried to relax and give myself the best opportunity to win.”

"Aryn's match was one of the best high school matches I have ever had the pleasure of watching,” said Bomar of the two-and-a-half hour match. “By the time we realized it was all coming downs to Aryn’s match it was starting to get very warm and both girls were expending a lot of energy on the court. It started to be pretty clear that Katherine was getting tired and showed signs of cramping. She took a medical timeout and they worked on her leg but it was obvious that she was having trouble moving. When the match ended Katherine was spent and Aryn could have gone another set. It was interesting that spectators from other schools and matches around the complex had come to this court and were standing four to five deep just to watch what was going on."

In the end Greene won 6-7, 6-3, 6-1 and sent Pisgah to the finals against region rival Pace. The Patriots had defeated Pace twice earlier in the season, and Saturday’s outcome was no different.

“Our girls just went out and took care of business and the championship was ours. Our three singles girls only lost one game and we were off the court in less than an hour," said Bomar.

Against Pace, Greene won 6-0, 6-0; Russell won 6-1, 6-0; and Carlson won 6-0, 6-0.

"Our girls had talked about winning the state championship since the beginning of the season but I don't think anyone knew what that really meant. I kept telling them not to worry about winning the state and if they just won the next match the rest of the season would take care of itself,” said Bomar. “As we moved into the second half of the season and had convincingly beaten the teams usually considered to be very strong, it looked like we had something pretty special going on. I've got to give our girls credit for staying focused. We closed each practice with prayer and I have to believe this helped us. If they felt any pressure from being undefeated, they didn't show it."