Rome’s boys tennis team showed lots of fight and grit on Monday afternoon at the Rome Tennis Center at Berry College, topping top seed Allatoona, 3-1, in the Region 6-AAAAAA finals to grab the region title.
Early in the match, the Buccaneers seemed to have an advantage, taking control of the No. 2 doubles slot, grabbing a first-set win in the No. 1 doubles spot and watching as their No. 3 singles player jumped out to a 4-0 lead over Rome’s Matthew Hucks.
Hucks and Rome’s No. 1 doubles duo of Ishan Sundrani and Tim Valancius refused to go down without a fight though. Sundrani and Valancius rallied to take the second set 6-4 after dropping the first 4-6 and were down 1-0 in the tiebreaker.
They didn't have to finish it though, because Hucks rallied to win his first set 6-4 before claiming the second set 6-1.
Rome’s Tony Garduno grabbed the No. 1 singles spot with a 6-1, 6-3 win, and Alex Hernandez gave the Wolves the win at No. 2 singles, 6-2, 6-1. Those wins combined with Hucks’ come-back effort, catapulted the Wolves to the region crown.
“I was a little bit nervous early on. It was a different player from Allatoona than the last time we played them, and I just had problems hitting my shots,” Hucks said. “Eventually I won a game, got more confident and started building off of it.”
Not only did Hucks build off winning his first game, he then won seven more, rallying to take the first set and building a lead in the second set.
“Their coach was trying to get him to outlast me. They knew I was tired. I guess he had a lot of endurance. I was still able to hit my shots. I was patient enough and he wasn’t able to outlast me,” Hucks said.
Rome’s squad gathered on one of the empty courts moments after Hucks and the other singles players closed out their matches to celebrate and take pictures with the region trophy.
"It’s hard to describe. The goal we’ve had is to be region champs. We didn’t want to just compete, we wanted to win the region. To compete and fulfill that goal is awesome,” Rome Tennis Coach Rebel Green said. “Matthew Hucks was down 0-4, but he settled down and came back and won. As soon as he calmed down, he started doing what he needed to do.”
Green also had high praise for his No. 1 doubles team.
“Doubles has been having a good day. They won in the first match of the day against Etowah. They lost badly against Allatoona the last time we played them. For them to come out today and split the first two sets shows how much they have improved,” Green said. “They didn’t get to finish their match, but they were neck and neck in the third set. They were playing with a lot of confidence.”
The day began in the morning with cold, windy conditions but the elements didn’t phase the Wolves, as they knocked off Etowah in the region semifinals. Singles all looked strong in the semifinal match with Garduno winning at No. 1, 6-0, 6-2,and Hucks winning at No. 3, 6-2, 6-3.
Rome’s No. 1 doubles duo of Ishan Sundrani and Tim Valancius won a spirited match, 7-5, 6-2, while Rome’s No. 2 doubles squad of Yash Garg and Aaron Lewis dropped their match 6-0, 6-2.
When Sundrani and Valacius clinched their match it ended the semifinal round with Rome grabbing the 3-1 win. The Wolves also had solid control of the No. 2 singles match, as Hernandez carried a 7-5, 2-0 lead at that point, but the match was halted due to Rome clinching the team win.
The Wolves now prepare for the Class 6A State Tennis Tournament where they will get to host the first round contest.
“We’re just going to keep doing what we’ve been doing - focus on our strengths and work on our weaknesses. Doubles just need to get more consistent and singles just need to work on more conditioning and go with what got us here,” Green said.