Fort Mill plans on taking a swing at region title

The Fort Mill Yellow Jackets opened the 2017 tennis season convinced it can win Region IV.

Longtime head coach Willie Ware said team is well built and ready to compete.

“I got high hopes,” Ware said. “They look strong. Hopefully, we can fulfill our goals of winning the region and going deep in the state playoffs.”

There are four seniors among the 24 players on the team this year. Ware said all of them came out this season willing to put in the time it takes to build a winner.

“The kids really came ready to work,” Ware said.

Fort Mill opened the regular season with a 4-3 win over non-region opponent Lancaster. The first region match will be March 14 at Northwestern.

Against Lancaster, Fort Mill’s No. 1 player Apoorva Mehta won 6-0, 6-1 and No. 5 player Zach Dodson won 6-2, 6-0 in singles action. The match was close and had to go to a No. 1 doubles play to decide the winner, as Mehta and Dodson teamed up and came through with a resounding victory 6-2, 6-0. Also winning at No. 2 doubles for Fort Mill was Ty Mullis and Wade Havnaer 6-2, 6-1.

The Jackets’ schedule has just six home matches with their next one against Clover March 16.

This story was originally published March 9, 2017 at 6:46 PM with the headline "Fort Mill plans on taking a swing at region title."