Benjamin Russell tennis teams start well

By Dusty Harper (Contact) | Alex City Outlook

Originally published 04:50 p.m., March 2, 2010
Updated 04:50 p.m., March 3, 2010

High school tennis season is in full swing, and the Benjamin Russell boys and girls teams have had some early success.

Each team opened the year in Phenix City for a doubles tournament, and both clubs’ No. 1 team brought home first place. Rachel Luckie and Star Catrett won on the girls side, while Rod Williams and Blake Grimes were the best boys duo. Madeline Lazenby and Sidney Hancock were runners-up for the girls.

The girls and boys won 9-0 and 8-1 over Valley in their first match of the season, before losing last week to Auburn. Boys coach Wes Coleman said he has a young group, but he likes what he sees so far out of his team.

“We’ve got four out of our top six players back, but most 6A programs have more upperclassmen than we do,” Coleman said. “I think it’s a good thing to be younger than usual, though. We’ve got some guys that if they will stay with the program for a while, they have a really good chance to be good players.”

Williams, the team’s No. 1 player, is a sophomore who is leading the way, Coleman said.

“He’s a good player right now, and he’s got the chance to be great,” Coleman said. “You can tell he was on the courts this summer getting better. He did lose to Auburn’s top guy the other day, but he’s already signed with UAB, which is a good program. He lost 8-6 after having a four-point lead, and that shows his potential.”

The No. 2 player for BRHS is Chip Grimes, followed by Blake, sophomore Seth McClendon, and middle schoolers Tommy Sexton and Matthew Brown. Coleman said Sexton and Brown earned their spots.

“We actually had enough people try out to make a JV and varsity team,” Coleman said. “We had a lot of good competition and those two stood out. Tommy is a guy who’s played with varsity players for a couple of years, and Matthew is going to be a good one, too.”

The Lady Wildcats have two freshmen at 5 and 6 in Lauren Holcomb and Jennifer Taunton. Head coach Tony Franklin said if those two can perform well, it would help out the team a good bit.

“We’re very inexperienced at the bottom end of the line-up,” Franklin said. “But, they’re still working hard every day. The weather has set us back. We’ve got a long way to go to get to where I think this team is capable of being.”

BRHS had a scheduled match Tuesday that was canceled. It will be made up on March 29. After matches at LAMP and Sylacauga, BRHS hosts Smiths Station next Tuesday.

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