Yellow Jackets look ahead, not back in girls tennis

To cement its legacy, all the St. Augustine High School girls tennis team had to do was step on the court Tuesday in a regional semifinal against Gainesville High School.

The history books had already been written. Last season, the girls tennis team won its first district title since 1991 with a victory over Menendez. After knocking off the Falcons again last week, the team became the first squad to win back-to-back titles since, well, nobody in attendance could even remember.

"It's been so much fun," senior Britta Messler said. "It's nice to see our tennis team now has a foundation. No matter what happens and who comes back, at least we have that."

The Yellow Jackets came up short of writing another chapter on Tuesday, falling 4-3 and failing to advance to the regional finals, which would have been another first in school history.

St. Augustine's top doubles team of Messler and Heather Warren opened with a 6-4, 6-3 doubles victory, but the optimism would slowly fade after that.

Gainesville won the next four matches. Emily Dupree battled allergies and lost a marathon 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 match at No. 5 singles. Messler fell 6-2, 6-3 at No. 1, Shannon Healey lost 6-1, 6-3 at No. 4 and the doubles team of Jordyn Edwards and Healy dropped a 6-3, 6-3 match. Warren and Edwards picked up singles wins after the match was decided as well.

The loss marked the second time in a row that St. Augustine fell in this round, which is something nobody is ready to brood over.

The Yellow Jackets' success last season raised the level of excitement around the program to new heights.

When the season began, an unthinkable 62 players signed up for the boys and girls teams. A year earlier, about half that number showed up.

The team also bought its first ball machine for practice.

Needless to say, the feeling around St. Augustine tennis was something nobody had experienced since the program was peaking in the 1990s.

"It's all about confidence," assistant coach Robert Baker said.

"In high school, the kids are pretty evenly matched. So it's about believing in yourself. And obviously, winning is contagious."

St. Augustine beat Menendez in last season's District 3-3A tournament by one point on a doubles victory by Messler and Warren.

That victory forced St. Augustine into a unique situation this year.

It wasn't about making history anymore. It was about living up to expectations.

That in itself was something that felt refreshing.

St. Augustine bounced up and down to a 10-7 record and the district tournament was another nail biter, with the Yellow Jackets edging the Falcons 18-16. Messler and Warren won No. 1 doubles and earned a trip to the state tournament for the second straight year.

"We knew having four seniors coming back that we were going to be pretty good," Baker said.

Those four seniors, Messler, Warren, Dupree and Healey, exit the school after leaving an indelible mark.

It's hard to say if the success will continue in their absence, but there's no denying where it started.

"I was never able to do that (leave a legacy) in volleyball," said Messler, who plays both sports and was named the school's top athlete this year.

"So it's nice to be able to leave something behind. It's exciting."

Boys Class 3A regionals: St. Augustine's season ended with a 7-0 loss to Gainesville.

Girls Class 2A regionals: Ponte Vedra's season ended with a 5-0 loss to Bolles in the Class 2A regional finals.

Boys Class 2A regionals: Ponte Vedra advanced to the Class 2A regional finals with a 4-1 victory over Bishop Kenny. The Crusaders' lone point came after the match had already been decided.

Daniel Rush (6-4, 7-5 at No. 1), Casey Austgen (6-2, 6-2 at No. 2), Connor David (6-4, 6-1) and Matt Larsen (7-5, 6-0) all won in singles.

The Sharks will face the Stanton/Matanzas winner on Thursday in the regional final.