Mauldin Outlasts Gray Collegiate Academy to Win Class 5A Girls Tennis Title

By Thomas Grant Jr.

Contributing Writer

Columbia - It was 2012 the last time Mauldin won the girls’ tennis title.

For longtime head coach Lauren Gurley, the 14-year wait was less agonizing than the road Lady Mavericks took to hoist the trophy again.

From the third round against Spartanburg, to the Upper State against Chapin and state final against Gray Collegiate Academy, Mauldin won all three contests by a 4-3 margin. Each took close to four hours to complete and came down to Mauldin securing victories in the final doubles’ matches.

The finals’ match at the Cayce Tennis and Fitness Center was especially a test of endurance and perseverance. It pitted the top doubles’ teams of the Lady Mavericks (freshman Catherine Polito and junior Jordin Floyd) against the Lady War Eagles (junior Morgan Horlback and sophomore Alisa Petushko).

After Mauldin won the first set 6-4, Gray Collegiate Academy dominated the second set by a 6-1 margin. The third set would be decided by the first team to 10 points or winning two straight points following a 9-9 tie.

The latter scenario played itself out as the Lady War Eagles erased a 3-point deficit to tie the game. At 9-9, the Lady Mavericks came through with a point and an unforced error by Gray Collegiate Academy on match point for the win.



“My one (Polito) and two (Floyd) can stay tough, stay focus and they can pull it out,” Gurley said. “I trust them to beat anybody in one doubles. So, I was excited that it went to one doubles today.”

It was a doubles’ sweep for Mauldin as the team of juniors Emma Babinicz and Nellie Jackson defeated senior Stella Malcolm and freshman Zoey Washington 6-1, 6-1. The singles’ wins were by Floyd (6-3, 6-1 over senior Kate Synder) and senior Isabella Way (7-5, 6-2 over eighth grader Anna Boone).

This was the school’s fourth state title, all under Gurley. She accomplished a three-peat between 2010-12 and only loses Way from this year’s team.

“It’s been amazing to see it come back to this because I’ve been around through it all,” she said. “We stayed competitive, but to be back as a state champion is just amazing.”

Meanwhile, this marked the second straight heartbreaking loss in the finals for Gray Collegiate Academy. Last year, it also lost 4-3 in the Class 4A final to A.C. Flora.

“These girls really stepped up when they needed to,” Gray Collegiate Academy head coach Madison Conwell said. “I have a great team of girls. They never give up. They have the grit.  Unfortunately, we came up short this year like they did last year in the worst way possible in number one doubles. But, I’m super proud of this group.”

Along with Synder, the Lady War Eagles only graduate Synder, Malcolm and Ella McMahan. It returns nine players, including freshmen Cecily Lokodi and Payton Holliday and sophomores Maggie McMahan, Molly Vyskocil and Heidi Chapman.