The Darlington Tigers are marching on into the Class A Division I state semifinals after they continued their dominant run through the postseason with a 4-0 win at Temple on Monday in the quarterfinals.
Darlington didn’t drop a single line for the third straight round as it took care of business in both singles and doubles action.
Winning in singles play were No. 1 Jan Luis Weers and No. 2 Murray Ellington, with Weers taking his match 6-0, 6-0 and Ellington winning 6-1, 6-0. The doubles teams of Felipe Selle and Nicolas Ntayagabiri (No. 1), along with Asa Shepard and Grady Ferguson (No. 2), each won 6-0, 6-0.
John Courtnay was ahead 3-0 in the first set of his match at No. 3 singles before it was conceded with the team result no longer in doubt.
“I would say that, once again, our team locked in and really focused on the win. We had a goal to get as far as we could in the playoffs, and now we are coming down to the last couple of teams on our way to the championship,” Darlington head coach Betina Fuentes said.
Fuentes and her team will now travel to Whitefield Academy in the final four Thursday at 2 p.m. Since both teams were No. 1 seeds, the GHSA universal coin flip for like seeds determined Whitefield Academy will host the match.
“We know that Whitefield is a good team, and we are getting both mentally and physically ready to face them on Thursday,” Fuentes said. “Our young men always play their best, no matter what, but now the intensity will have to be turned up a notch.”
With one more win, Darlington would punch its ticket to the Class A Division I state championship match, which will be held May 11 at the Rome Tennis Center at Berry College.
Published in the Rome News-Tribune on April 30, 2024
