Adairsville boys head to state as a 4-seed

The Adairsville boys tennis team did not get the result they were after Thursday afternoon, but will nonetheless advance to the Class AAA state tournament next week.

Playing in the Region 6-AAA third place consolation match, Adairsville lost to Sonoraville 3-1 and will now be a 4-seed in the state playoffs where they will travel to the champions of Region 7-AAA next Tuesday or Wednesday.

The Adairsville boys last appeared in the state tennis tournament in 2014. The only Adairsville win came at the top doubles line. Landon Swanson and Cody Kimbrough won in straight sets, 7-5, 6-2. Although the three singles lines were all won by Sonoraville, Roberson was pleased with his players’ performances.

“Earlier in the season Sonoraville beat us handily 5-0,” said Tigers’ coach Michael Roberson. “Today every match was highly contested. The effort was definitely there. There was also a lot of encouragement coming from court to court among the guys, which was great to see. The guys have definitely grasped the concept of a team.”

Jack Bates lost 3-6, 5-7 at Line 1. Cameron O’Neal fell 4-6, 2-6 at Line 2, and Oak Hemby lost 3-6, 4-6 at Line 3. The Line 2 doubles team of Zach Ogle and Tristin Alford had split sets, but had their match pulled when Sonoraville secured the overall team victory. Adairsville will learn their state playoff first round opponent later this week and Roberson says his team will be ready for the challenge. “It is great that our program gets this opportunity,” noted Roberson. “This has been a goal for the guys all year. We are very excited. Our approach will be the same as it has been all year — take one point at a time. We’ll play with no pressure and see where it takes us.”