Charleston – With the start of the SCISA state playoffs just around the corner, the Ashley Hall girls tennis team is setting their sights on a run at the AAAA state title.
The Panthers finished as the state runner-up in 2022, losing to Trinity Collegiate in the state finals. Coach Charlotte Hartsock feels her 2023 squad can be a title contender as well. Most of last year’s team returns this fall.
“We lost one player from our top six and we gained a key senior back, Mattie Laney, who missed last year with a torn ACL,” Hartsock reports. “All the girls on the team play tennis year-round and play tournament tennis. As a team we have a lot of potential because we are strong from top to bottom.”
The SCISA state playoffs begin on Oct. 9 with the finals set for Oct. 14 in Sumter. Hartsock feels there are several title contenders in AAAA and expects a battle through the bracket.
Ashley Hall has competed against a tough schedule this Fall and have posted an 8-5 record heading into the last week of September. After contests with Palmetto Christian and Pinewood Prep in the final week of the month, the regular season ends with a match against rival Porter-Gaud on Oct. 3rd at the Charleston Tennis Center.
Sophomores Lily Sloan and Emma Tedford occupy the top two singles positions in the lineup. Senior Martha Rivers plays No. 3 singles and senior Emorie Stockton plays No. 4. Another sophomore, Grace Taylor plays No. 5 singles with Laney playing the final singles slot. Laney has yet to lose in singles or doubles this fall. She teams with Stockton at No. 3 doubles.
Sloan and Rivers team up as the No. 1 doubles team, while Tedford and Taylor play No. 2 doubles. Gigi Powell and eighth-grader Charlotte Guffey also see action in doubles.
Rounding out the 2023 roster are junior Madeleine Ambrite, sophomore Kate Strenck, and freshmen Lillie Jackson and Elizabeth Brisson.
All Rights Reserved | The High School Sports Report 1986-2021