Lassiter's Daniel Yun returns the ball during his singles match against Woodstock's Ivan Vizcaya on Thursday.
Staff photo by Jon-Michael Sullivan
Staff photo by Jon-Michael Sullivan
The doubles tandem of Will Braun and Ben Gottenberg clinched the match for the seventh-ranked Trojans (10-5), who will face top seed and No. 1-ranked Walton in Tuesday’s region championship at Marietta High School.
Woodstock (12-7) will face Etowah in the consolation match.
Braun and Gottenberg defeated Woodstock’s D.J. Dubay and Spencer Hren 6-2, 7-5 at No. 2 doubles to claim the match for the Trojans.
“That was an important win for me and my partner, and for the team,” Braun said. “We had a match point at 5-4 in the second set but lost it, and they tied us at 5-5. We won the next two games, so it was important that we bounced back and didn’t give them any momentum. We didn’t get down on ourselves after losing match point and came back.
“This is a really nice opportunity for us. I’ve never been to a region final, so, as a senior, this is a nice way to go out with a bang before the state playoffs.”
Woodstock’s David Marcello won the first match of the day, beating J.J. Rubin 6-1, 6-4 at No. 3 singles.
Parker Goldstein evened things up for the Trojans following a convincing 6-1, 6-0 triumph over Eric Hollar at No. 2 singles. Daniel Yun then put Lassiter ahead 2-1 with his 6-1, 6-2 victory over Ivan Vizcaya at No. 1 singles, eventually leading to Braun and Gottenberg’s match clincher.
“We’re happy to make the playoffs, and we look forward to playing Walton again,” Lassiter coach Wylie Brown said. “It’s nice to be in this position. Lassiter hasn’t been to the state playoffs in a while. We have great senior leadership, and it’s great to have all of them with GPAs above a 4.0.
“I like to have smart tennis players that are pretty good at what they do, too. Having smart tennis players usually translates to them playing smart on the court.”
Connor Sova and Ben Anderson trailed Woodstock’s Josh Bertram and David Draghiceanu 7-6 (1), 2-0 at No. 1 doubles when play was suspended.
GIRLS TENNIS
Woodstock 3, Lassiter 1: The third-seeded Lady Wolverines upset the second-seeded Lady Trojans in their semifinals of the Region 5AAAAA tournament.
The win put ninth-ranked Woodstock (13-3) into the region finals for the first time, and it will face top-seeded Walton for the championship Tuesday at Marietta.
Fourth-ranked Lassiter will face Etowah in the consolation match.
“We knew this would be a competitive match,” Lassiter coach Lisa Chase said. “These teams have faced each other before, so we all knew what we were up against. We had some injuries, and our No. 2 player was playing with a fever, so that stuff played a factor into (Thursday’s) outcome. With a healthy unit, maybe we have a different result, but the girls fought hard. It was out of my control.”
The No. 1 doubles tandem of Nikki Poirier and Alyssa Kroll won the first point for Woodstock, with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Natalie Eldredge and Katie Corcoran.
Lassiter evened the match behind Rachel Sumner’s 6-1, 6-4 victory at No. 3 singles, over the Lady Wolverines’ Lauren Nielly.
However, the No. 2 doubles team of Gabrielle Wood and Brooklyn Milone retook the lead for Woodstock. The pair jumped out to early leads in both sets — 4-1 in the first, 3-0 in the second — before finishing a 6-3, 7-5 win over Jane Earley and Savanna Brown.
Tiffany Meyers clinched the win for Woodstock. She easily won her first set at No. 2 singles, 6-1, but had to withstand a comeback attempt from Lassiter’s Natalie Kieta before taking a 6-4 victory in the second set.
Nicole Nielly led Lassiter’s Amanda Sumner 7-5, 1-0 when play was suspended following Meyers’ victory.
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