From The Trussville Tribune Staff Reports
GARDENDALE — The Clay-Chalkville girls tennis team put together a strong day of tennis on April 20, winning the Jefferson County Tournament in a close battle with reigning champion Gardendale.
The tournament was essentially a home match for Gardendale, as it was played at Noble Park, but the Cougars put together a team effort to pull the upset.
In singles play, two Cougars were individual winners. Sarah-Ashley Giambrone won a close 8-6 battle over Gardendale in No. 2 singles and Amber Jones took home the No. 3 title, 8-3 over Corner. No. 1 player Laura Lopresti, No. 4 Lexie Payne, and No. 5 Britney Ryals each reached the finals. Grace Hancock was a quarterfinalist in the No. 6 division.
The Cougars cleaned up in doubles play, winning two of the three titles against Gardendale. The No. 1 tandem of Lopresti and Giambrone won 8-6, while Jones and Payne won in an 8-2 rout, giving Clay-Chalkville the overall victory.
Head coach Pam Kohlenberg said before the season that duplicating the second-place finish from last year’s county tournament behind Gardendale would be great, so the win was a great achievement for the program.
Their season concluded with a fourth place finish at sectionals.