Fort Mill wins Region IV-5A tennis title

The Fort Mill Jackets girls’ tennis team held together down the stretch to finish the regular season by winning the Region IV-5A title.

Fort Mill beat defending 5A state champions Rock Hill for the second time this season winning 5-1 and closed out the regular season with a 5-1 win over Nation Ford as well. The Jackets finished region play with an 8-0 record and the regular season with a 12-2 overall record.

“We came into the season knowing we were going to have to play Rock Hill and they were defending state champions,” said Fort Mill head coach Angela Struve. “They met the challenge head on.”

Against Nation Ford, Fort Mill got wins from No. 1 singles Elizabeth Fitzgerald 6-0, 6-0 and No. 2 singles Maddie Bhend 0-6, 6-1, 1-0. Wallace Cortazar won 6-3, 6-2 in No. 3 singles and Jamie Petrella won 6-0, 6-2 at No. 5 singles. In No. 2 doubles, Lucia Williams and Courtney Templeton won 6-2, 6-4. At No. 4 singles, Nation Ford’s Natalie Sawyer won 6-4, 7-6.

In their match against Rock Hill, winning for Fort Mill was Fitzgerald 6-1, 6-1 at No. 1 singles. Cortazar won at No. 3 singles 6-1, 6-4 and Amelia Hall won 6-0, 6-3 at No. 4 singles. Petrella won at No. 5 singles 6-1, 6-0 and Templeton and Williams won 6-3, 6-2 at No. 2 doubles.

With winning the region, Fort Mill will now have to wait until Oct. 18 before playing again in the first round of the 5A playoffs against a team to be determined. Their opponent will most likely come from the Greenville area.

Struve said she isn’t worried about rust forming between now and then with her team practicing hard in the interim.

“Playing each other is the best practice they will get,” she said.

This story was originally published October 8, 2017 at 8:59 PM with the headline "Fort Mill wins Region IV-5A tennis title."