CHARLESTON — Day two of the 2024 West Virginia state tennis tournament started out differently than day one.
The Class AAA boys and Class AA/A boys and girls fields had to go inside due to weather that occurred overnight from Thursday to Friday.
The whole Class AAA field was played up at the Kanawha Valley YMCA with four teams, two boys and two girls, competing for a state title.
Class AAA Girls
The George Washington girls team took care of business against University High School to capture the Class AAA girls’ title.
The Patriots won four of the five matches to take the 4-1 victory over the defending champion Hawks.
GW’s title in Charleston on Friday was the Patriots’ first since 2018.
“The state tournament last year didn’t quite go in our favor when we lost a girl due to injury,” GW coach Taylor Rose said. “We played University and lost to them three to four. [The girls] practiced for an entire year for this exact goal. They have given everything this season. They have gone undefeated this season and this was their ultimate goal and met it.”
University put up a fight that any defending state champion would to defend the title, however, GW played effective tennis in all singles and partner matches.
Patriot assistant coach Emily Thayer was happy to see the girls work together as one.
“They played as a strong team together,” Thayer said. “They killed it [in doubles]. They went out and won straight, won all the doubles. That set us up to be winning 3-0 going into singles. That was huge for us.”
Class AAA boys
The top-seeded Hurricane Redskins claimed their second state title in three years after upending Cabell Midland, 4-1, for the state title.
The state title victory by the Redskins dethrones the Knights.
“We had so much confidence and didn’t think anybody’s gonna beat us,” Hurricane coach Andy Ball. “This makes us 21-0 this season. So, that’s a lot of confidence. We played some good schools down in Kentucky and up north. It was just an attitude of we got the skills and ability to win.”
Hurricane were upperclassmen-heavy this season.
The Redskins have eight upperclassmen on their roster with four being seniors.
This state title under Ball’s leadership had a little extra incentive for not only him but the team.
“This means a lot because I was the middle school coach and had some in the sixth grade,” Ball said. “They play year round. The play in tournaments and are really into it. Sometimes it’s not as much coaching as just keeping them together and getting good attitudes and having a lot of fun.”
Class AA/A boys
The Williamstown Yellowjackets repeat as Class AA/A champs for the third time and four seasons.
The Yellowjackets took down No. 2 seeded Winfield, 4-1.
The 2024 state title also marks the fourth one for Williamstown since 2014.
The Yellowjackets got past second-seeded Winfield at the Charleston Tennis Club facility up beside George Washington High School.
Class AA/A girls
The No. 2 seeded Chapmanville Tigers make history by claiming their first state tennis title in school history.
The Tigers used victories over seventh-seeded Chapmanville and third-seeded Logan to get to Friday’s state title match against top-seeded Williamstown.
Chapmanville fought through a strong state title match to claim the victory over top-seeded Williamstown, 4-3.
By Taylor Kennedy | Gazette-Mail
