PM Netters Conclude Season

Parry McCluer High School girls tennis players Sadie Mays and Addisen Roberts concluded their tennis season in the Region 1C doubles semifinals last Wednesday at Auburn, a day after Roberts lost in the Region 1C singles semifinals at the same location.

Mays and Roberts, who had won their second consecutive Pioneer District doubles title on May 19 at Southern Virginia University, suffered a 6-1, 6-1 loss to Grayson County’s Sydney Poe and Sarah Hale in the regional semifinals. It was the only loss of the season for PM’s top pair, who finished the year at 15-1. In the regional finals, Poe and Hale lost 6-2, 6-3 to Galax’s Carly Sturgill and Clare Huff.

In the regional singles semifinals, Roberts, a junior and the Blues’ top player all year, suffered a 6-2, 6-0 loss to George Wythe’s Maggie Minton on Tuesday. Minton went on to defeat Sturgill 6-3, 5-7, 17-15 in the finals. Roberts, the Pioneer District singles runner-up, concluded the year with a record of 12-5.

As a team, under the direction of first-year head coach Alyssa Sewell, the Fighting Blues went 12-2 this year, going 12-0 during the regular season before suffering 5-4 losses to Bath County in the Pioneer District finals and to Giles in the Region 1C finals. PM went 4-0 in the district during their regular season, beating both Narrows and Bath twice, and the Blues earned two 5-4 wins over local rival Rockbridge County.

The Blues improved notably from last year, when they went 6-3, ending the 2022 season with a 5-0 loss to Galax in the Region 1C quarterfinals.

Reflecting on the Blues’ impressive season, Sewell said she “couldn’t be more proud of these girls this year.”

Mays was the lone senior playing for the Blues this season. Playing at No. 2 singles for PM all season, Mays had a record of 9-5. “We will miss Sadie so much next year, but I was proud of how she battled her last match at regions,” said Sewell.

The future looks bright for the Blues, with Roberts as the lone rising senior. Other players who gained a valuable year of experience were rising juniors Olive King, Macy Shafer, Peira Conner and Marley Convers and rising sophomore Peyton Chittum.

Optimistic about the future, Sewell said, “Can’t wait to see what we accomplish next season!”