South Aiken shuts out Aiken, reaches 3rd round of Class AAAA boys' tennis playoffs

SOUTH AIKEN 6, AIKEN 0

It wasn't going to be nearly as easy Thursday for the South Aiken boys' tennis team as it had been a couple of days before.

The Region 4-AAAA champion T-Breds, the No. 2 seed in the Lower State, had their way Tuesday with an inexperienced Darlington team that looked happy to be there at the Weeks Tennis Center as a No. 15 seed in the first round of the state playoffs.

The visiting Falcons joked around with the T-Breds, asking for pointers and setting them up for trick shots, the kind of things that could potentially blur the focus of a young team with state championship aspirations.

That all came back into full focus Thursday, though, with a second-round assignment against rival Aiken. Nothing more needs to be said when these two get together, and South Aiken aced the test with a 6-0 sweep to set up a third-round home match Monday against May River.

"They all played amazingly well. Definitely a tougher match than Tuesday's was," said South Aiken coach Dee Dee Redd. "Aiken's definitely much more of a competitive team, which we really appreciate. Still had a lot of 6-0, 6-1 kind of scores, which speaks to their focus in getting the job done. We had lost a line before to Aiken, and this time we won all six."

It was a clean sweep for the T-Breds, who didn't drop a set. The No. 2 doubles match was forfeited by a shorthanded Aiken squad, and South Aiken added to that disadvantage by piling on the singles wins. 

David Baker beat Henry Vaughters, 6-0, 6-1 at No. 1 singles; Coda Hughes was a 6-1, 6-0 winner over Aiden McElwain at No. 2; Timmy Videtto won 6-3, 6-2 over Alex Hammel at No. 3; Landen Reagan beat Brinkley Johnson 6-0, 6-0 at No. 4; and Xander Leigh was a 6-2, 7-5 winner over Field Thurmond at No. 5.

That sets up another home match Monday against May River, the No. 11 seed from the Lower State that has pulled consecutive upsets against Hartsville and Wilson.

"Being able to play at home, at least the first three rounds, home-court advantage is good for every sport," Redd said. "We won't have to travel. Just being on a bus for an hour or two can cause just a little bit of distraction or a little bit of tiredness, so being able to stay home is amazing."

For Aiken, it's the end to a season of uncertainty and adversity that still ended with the Hornets as a third-place finisher in the region and the No. 7 seed in the Lower State. The Hornets had to forfeit at least the No. 2 doubles match more often than not, yet despite the uphill climb they still produced a successful season that included a first-round playoff win over North Augusta.

"I'm proud of them. Losing two key members at the beginning of the year, that's going to cause anybody to feel down," said Aiken head coach Steve Smith. "But they quickly went from, 'Oh no' to 'We can play.' When we were able to have some reinforcements and have a full team, it was really nice. I'm looking forward to all five of them coming back next year and hopefully add some more to it. I think that will do nothing but make us stronger."

The T-Breds showed they could quickly switch from a leisurely pace to a more serious one, which is something they've done all season long. They can play the finesse game just as easily as they can play the power game, which is a credit to the way they play against one another in practice.

"As we move forward, I think we're going to see a lot more hard-hitting competitors," Redd said. "I know that our guys are fully prepared for that, and actually in that situation they play even better. Those are the balls they like to get, so they're able to bring their game at a higher level whenever they play those harder competitors."

Most of Thursday's matches were over quickly, though not nearly at the same pace as in Tuesday's first round. The marathon match was at No. 5 singles, and it was one that was indicative of how both teams' seasons have gone. For South Aiken it showed the versatility of Leigh, who on any given day has to be ready to play either doubles or one of the singles lines. For Aiken, it was emblematic of the numbers crunch the Hornets have faced - Thurmond, a member of the lacrosse team, served as a fill-in during the regular season and played just enough to be eligible for the playoffs.

"Tonight, we saw one of our players that had only played a few games, five matches this year because he was playing another sport, but he got out there and he fought hard and ground it out," Smith said. "I'm so proud of Field. It was great to see that. I hope he'll be able to play more with us next year."

Next week for South Aiken is the next step toward a state championship. The T-Breds are now down to the final eight in Class AAAA, and a win over May River would send them to the state semifinals.

Next week for Aiken is the start of a recruiting process. Smith said he felt bad for his players at the start of the season once the roster shrunk, then refocused to fight for them however he could to get them help. He's hopeful more is on the way, whether that's finding potential players on campus or even younger ones in the area who might one day join the program.

"That's what you have to do when you have to get numbers built back up," he said. "The good thing is, too, that I've got some people in the area that are helping me and hopefully there's going to be some clinics and stuff going on over on the side of town next to Aiken High for younger kids that will feed into the program. I had a community member that came and said, 'I want to help you. I want to help try to build the program, get more people involved, because I know it's hard for you because there's not programs over here for the younger kids with tennis.'"