The boys’ tennis team won the AAAAA state championship last Saturday at the Clayton County International Tennis Park against Union Grove.

The girls’ team finished as state runners-up after losing to Lakeside-Evans. Before the finals, junior Erin Egoroff said that her team had a good shot at winning their match. “We’ve beaten this team before, but it was really close. If we play confidently and loosely, we should be able to take home the title.”

Seniors Frank Rogers, Alex Borovsky, Blake Traeger, and John Traeger all received their second state rings. As freshmen, they were the champions in 2010.

“It was amazing to be able to finish the season with a state championship,” Borovsky said. “We were by far the most dominant team in our division. All of our hard work paid off. It was an amazing atmosphere and experience to be able to pull off another state championship as a team,” he said.

To get to the state games, the teams had to win their semifinal matches. The girls defeated Cambridge with the help of #1 singles junior Erin Egoroff’s 6-2 and 6-0 victories #2 singles player sophomore Rachael Williams, who won 6-1 and 6-0. The #3 singles player, senior Emily Shull, also won with scores of 7-5 and 6-1.  Because the Lady Panthers won three matches in a row, the doubles matches were canceled.

At the state championship, the boys’ individual scores were #1 singles Rogers, 6-1 and 6-0; #2 singles Borovsky 6-0 and 6-0; #1 and #2 doubles junior Sebastian Schneider and Blake Traeger 6-2 and 6-0. The final matches were also pulled because of consecutive victories.

The girls’ individual scores were #1 singles Egoroff, 4-6 and 1-6; #2 singles Williams, 6-0 and 6-0; #3 singles Shull, 6-2, 6-7, and 4-6. #1 doubles junior Kailey Inhulsen and senior Shannon McKillip, 6-2 and 6-2; #2 doubles seniors Sam Curtis and Cassidy Sparkman 5-7 and 4-6. In total, the girls lost the match with an overall score of 2-3.

“This is a very special team and I am just blessed to coach such awesome kids,” head coach Ronald Mann said.