Fort Mill girls tennis starts on a hot streak

The Fort Mill girls tennis team is off to a hot start with eight wins.

Just last week, Fort Mill rattled off four wins in four days, including a win over Region III-AAAA rival Clover. The Yellow Jackets are now 8-0 this season and have won 25 of their last 26 matches dating back to last season.

Coach Angela Struve (nèe Niccum) said she feels good about competing for another Region title this season.

“It’s going to be us and Rock Hill fighting for the top spot,” she said.

Fort Mill beat Clover 6-1 to finish off the week. The Yellow Jackets have only dropped five matches all season.

Winning for Fort Mill against Clover were No. 1 singles player Elizabeth Fitzgerald 6-0, 6-0. Her win was followed by straight set victories from No. 2 singles Rachel Brooks 6-2, 6-1 and No. 3 singles Shreya Katti 6-0, 6-0. Reagan Paff, at No. 4 singles and Ellie Prain, at No. 5 singles also won in straight sets 6-0, 6-1 for Paff and 6-3, 6-1 for Prain. Fitzgerald and Brooks teamed for an 8-2 No.1 doubles win as well.

Fort Mill beat Union County, Cuthbertson and Northwestern all by scores of 7-0.

Winning against Union County were Fitzgerald 6-0, 6-1; Brooks 6-0, 6-4; Katti 6-1, 6-1; Paff 6-0, 6-0 and Prain 6-0, 6-0. In No. 2 doubles, Abigail Thibodeau and Jamie Petrella won 6-1, 6-0 and Fitzgerald and Brooks won 8-1.

Northwestern was a little tougher for the Yellow Jackets, but the outcome was the same as Fitzgerald won 6-0, 6-0. Brooks won 6-2, 6-1 and Katti won 6-0, 6-0 in No. 2 and No. 3 singles.

In No. 4 singles, Paff won 6-0, 6-0 and Prain won in No. 5 singles 6-0, 6-1. The tough part came in No. 2 doubles as Thibodeau and Jessica Brewer were taken to a third set tie breaker winning 6-7, 6-4, 1-0. Fitzgerald and Brooks also won in No. 1 doubles 8-1.

Cuthbertson was a close match, despite Fort Mill winning all seven matches. Fitzgerald won 6-1, 6-1 at No. 1 singles and Brooks won 7-5, 6-2 at No. 2 singles.

At No. 3 singles, Katti won 7-6, 7-6 and Paff won 6-1, 6-1 at No. 4 singles. Prain finished off singles play winning 7-5, 6-4. Thibodeau and Brewer won in doubles 6-1, 7-5 and Fitzgerald and Brooks also won in doubles 8-1.

This story was originally published September 4, 2015 at 2:30 PM with the headline "Fort Mill girls tennis starts on a hot streak."