New Hope tennis has seen great growth in its program this season, and in two weeks, five players will be representing the Trojans at the Mississippi High School Activities Association state championships at FNC Tennis Center in Oxford.
The Trojans placed in the top two in three events during the Class 5A, Region 1 individual tournament last Tuesday at Lake Lowndes State Park: Boys doubles, mixed doubles and boys singles.
“I thought we did pretty well,” New Hope tennis coach David Grady said. “Last year, we got three players in – our mixed doubles and girls singles. Our goal was to get more players in than we did last year, and we made our goal.”
Jackson Grady took home the boys singles title for New Hope, defeating Saltillo’s Brady Bruce in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3.
In mixed doubles, Katie Hayes and Tradarius Robinson finished runners-up and the boys doubles team of Zach Dumas and Jeremiah William also finished runners-up.
Grady was part of last year’s mixed doubles team that reached the quarterfinals, the lone returning player for New Hope to go back to individual state championships.
“Of our five players, three of them are seniors and they’re all making their first trip to state championships,” Grady said. “They’re very excited about it and we’re very excited for them.”
New Hope brought home an individual state championship last year in Hannah East, the No. 2 seed in the Class 5A girls singles bracket.
This year, the hopes and expectations of the program, with individual state championships beginning April 24, is to repeat the same success again.
“I think we have a good chance to go deep in the tournament,” Grady said. “When you get to that second day, the talent level is really competitive, so it could go either way. Anyone can win at any time.”
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