Franklin County's Meer Patel delivers a forehand shot during a doubles match Thursday as part of the District 8AA tournaments in Shelbyville. Patel and teammate William Orr, lower photo, made it to the semifinals of the boys doubles bracket at the event before being eliminated.
Franklin County's Meer Patel delivers a forehand shot during a doubles match Thursday as part of the District 8AA tournaments in Shelbyville. Patel and teammate William Orr, lower photo, made it to the semifinals of the boys doubles bracket at the event before being eliminated.
Members of the Franklin County High School boys and girls tennis teams competed in the District 8AA singles and doubles tournaments Wednesday and Thursday at the Shelbyville Recreation Center.
The top two finishers in each bracket received berths to the Region 4AA singles and doubles tournaments with the Franklin County team of William Orr and Meer Patel falling just one win short of reaching that qualifying mark in the boys doubles division.
Orr and Meer Patel started competition on Wednesday with an 8-5 victory over Lincoln County’s Rylan Edwards and Nate Robinson to move on to the quarterfinals.
The Franklin County duo followed that up by beating Shelbyville’s Justin Spence and Jackson Benson by an 8-3 margin to advance to the semifinals in their bracket.
Orr and Meer Patel returned to the tennis courts Thursday to take on Coffee County’s Liam Brown and Nolan Sussen with a spot in the regional tournament on the line, and Brown and Sussen beat them in straight sets by scores of 6-2 and 6-1 to end their run through the bracket.
Franklin County’s Pratham Patel and Krish Patel also made it to the quarterfinals of the boys doubles bracket as they beat Marshall County’s Connor Blair and Johnny Palido in their first-round matchup by a score of 8-5.
However, Pratham and Krish Patel ran into Coffee County’s Brown and Sussen in the next round and were also eliminated by them following an 8-2 defeat.
On the girls side, the team of Leanna Hobbs and Jesse Burris won their first matchup in the girls doubles bracket, beating Shelbyville’s Evelyn Basurto and Ryann Gary by a score of 8-4.
Hobbs and Burris were then eliminated in the quarterfinals of the bracket with Marshall County’s Annabelle Mulliniks and Anna Richardson handing them an 8-1 loss.
Camryn Ragland and Zoey Nice-Francis were also representing Franklin County in the girls doubles bracket as they lost in the first round to Shelbyville’s Addison Berry and Ryann Samons by a score of 8-6.
Rafa Silva and Avi Patel played for Franklin County in the boys singles bracket with both taking losses in the first round.
Silva dropped his match to Tullahoma’s Logan Zimecki by an 8-5 margin while Avi Patel took an 8-1 defeat to Lincoln County’s Jackson Porter.
Franklin County’s representatives in the girls singles bracket were also both eliminated in the first round as Amelia Maxon fell to Lawrence County’s Kendell Mattox by a score of 8-2 and Aubree May took an 8-0 defeat to Marshall County’s Laike Perryman.
Sadie Wells competed for Franklin County in the girls JV bracket as she won her first match on Wednesday over Lincoln County’s Georgia Jones by a score of 6-4.
However, Wells then took a close loss in the second round as Marshall County’s Alanna Hopwood beat her by a 7-5 margin.
The District 8AA singles and doubles tournaments marked the end of the tennis season for Franklin County.
