Demopolis tennis not limited by youth in 2014

A very young Demopolis High School tennis team opened its season last week with a pair of wins over Tuscaloosa County High School.

The boys squad downed TCHS 5-2 while the Demopolis girls won their match 6-3.

“I was very happy with both performances,” Demopolis tennis coach Clay Massey said of the effort.

In the girls draw, No. 1 seed Meredith Hill narrowly fell 7-5.

“We’re bringing almost our entire girls team back. All our seeds are back, so that’s a good start to the year,” Massey said. “Meredith Hill is the returning No. 1 seed. She is a junior this year. We’re expecting big things from her competing for the region crown with Walker and Chilton County.”

Sarah Culpepper, the team’s No. 2 seed opened her season with a 6-2 win against Tuscaloosa County.

“Our returning No. 2 seed, she actually moved up, is Sarah Culpepper. She is an eighth grader this year. She has a lot of talent. She’ll have to come on, but the talent is there,” Massey said. “We’ve just got to work on execution. And she has to realize exactly how good she is and how good she can be. If she does that, she’s going to be pretty dangerous.”

Mary Frances Brown played in the No. 3 seed against TCHS, subbing for an unavailable Anna Ezell. Brown won her match 8-6.

“The four, five and six seeds, we can pretty much lump them together and shake them out. They are Mary Frances Brown, Kate Floyd and Lauren Boone,” Massey said of a trio that each played a seed higher last week then what they will for most of the season. “All three are freshmen. The future is bright for each of those young ladies as long as they continue to work. They are all three very good tennis players.”

Floyd lost her match 6-4 while Boone won her match 6-3.

Ashlyn Poole filled the No. 6 seed in the opener, winning her match 6-0. Emma Lewis also played an unseeded match, falling 5-3.

Brown and Floyd teamed to win the No. 2 seed doubles 6-4 while Culpepper and Boone won 6-1 in the No. 3 seed doubles match.

“I think we’ve got really good depth this year and that’s good,” Massey said a of group that returns after having taken its lumps a year ago. “Their competitiveness has started to come out. Against Tuscaloosa County High, a big 6A program that is going to be in the new super-classification 7A, they weren’t intimidated at all. They went out there, expected to win and, for the most part, pretty much dominated the competition.”

On the boys side, Kyle Woodruff earned a 6-4 win in the No. 1 seed battle. The sophomore will be tasked with setting the tone for his team this season.

“With the boys, we lost the leadership of Chance Martin and Logan Boone. No doubt, those are two big losses for us. So far, the kids have stepped up,” Massey said. “The No. 1 seed is Kyle Woodruff. We’re expecting a lot of things from that young man. It’s his team. He’s got to step up and be the leader. If he does that, then we’ll be okay on the boys side.”

Carson Parten battled to a tough 8-6 win in his No. 2 seed match against Tuscaloosa County.

“The No. 2 seed is a ninth grader, Carson Parten. Carson is an excellent tennis player. He kind of went through that awkward stage last year. He is finally growing into his body and he is going to be pretty good,” Massey said of Parten.

Woodruff and Parten teamed for an 8-4 win in the No. 1 seed doubles matchup.

“Those two team up to be my No. 1 doubles seed and they’re not going to get run off the court by anybody. They’re going to be able to hang with anybody they’ve got,” Massey said.

Garrett Miller opened his season in the No. 3 seed slot with a 6-4 win over Tuscaloosa County.

“The No. 3 seed is returning. He is my only junior boy and that is Garrett Miller. Garrett has done an excellent job this year,” Massey said. “We’ve got three brand new tennis players who have never played tennis competitively before. Garrett has done an excellent job of kind of taking those young men under his wing, kind of showing them the ropes and working on skill stuff. When you walk out there, you can see him really taking the time with those young players.”

The youngest players on the team, Rodney Skidmore and Ben Robertson, are both eighth graders. Skidmore fell 6-2 in his opener as the No. 4 seed while Robertson won 6-4 in the No. 5 seed match. Skidmore later teamed with Miller to win his doubles match 7-5.

“We’ve got two middle schoolers, Rodney Skidmore and Ben Robertson that are new to the team,” Massey said. “In the three to four weeks, you’ve seen a lot of improvement out of those two. Rodney and Garrett actually won their doubles match playing Tuscaloosa County’s No. 2 seed. That was very impressive for them. They were very excited.”

The boys team lost one player to injury during the preseason but will add a player before its next match in order to field a full squad.

“We did have one injury with Will Webb. He tore his knee up in the preseason. Will was going to be our No. 3 or No. 4 seed right there with Garrett. Obviously that loss is going to hurt us. Rodney and Ben have stepped up to kind of take on that loss,” Massey said. “But Jacob Browder has agreed to come out and help us out to let us field a full team. He is a new, first-time tennis player as well.”

The team is scheduled to play today at Walker High School. The team’s first home match will not come until March 5 against Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa.

“This team is young, but it has a lot of potential,” Massey said. “It also has some big shoes to fill. We had the region winner No. 1 seed with Logan last year, who advanced to the state tournament. We’re looking to keep that momentum rolling. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”