The Lake Oconee Academy girls’ tennis team recently captured the region championship.
Last week, the Lady Titans knocked off Aquinas in straight sets to win a third consecutive region title.
In the region championship, players such as seniors Georgia Bosart and Anika Imhof shined, staying undefeated through league play. Freshman Elizabeth Moore also contributed in a huge way.
Lake Oconee Academy’s girls now hope to make another deep run this year in the Georgia High School Association’s Class A Division II state playoffs. The Lady Titans made it to the semifinal round last season before losing to Christian Heritage, which defeated Johnson County to win the title.
“We’re going into state now and our girls are a No. 1 seed, which is nice,” head coach Tom Imhof said. “We’ve got a bye in the first round, which is being played next week. So, the following week, we will be playing in the second round. I don’t know who we’re playing, but it will be a home match, so that’s good.”
LOA started the season strong but only got better as the year went along. The additions of Bosart and Moore after the end of basketball season provided the Lady Titans depth within their lineup.
Bosart, who’s played tennis at LOA for only two years, took over the No. 1 singles spot. Moore earned her spot playing as the No. 2 singles player, and each proved to be successful for their team.
“Once we got (Bosart and Moore), it made our team so much stronger. And we finally got to see how good we actually are,” Imhof said. “They’ve been our two biggest pleasant surprises this year.”
Imhof acknowledged how well Bosart handled the pressure of taking over the No. 1 singles spot, especially after only playing doubles last season for the Lady Titans.
“She is just so mentally and physically in shape that she just wears down competition,” Imhof added. “She has beaten several more experienced and polished tennis players. But because of her athletic ability and mental toughness, she just wears them out. She went undefeated in the region.”
Moore proved to be dangerous as the No. 2 singles player, going 5-1 through region play. The coach’s daughter, Anika, went from No. 1 singles to the No. 3 singles spot after Bosart joined the team.
Anika Imhof had a successful campaign after being named to the First-Team All-State team last year.
“(Anika) was First-Team All-State last year, so we knew what we had with her, but we didn’t know where to fit her to help the team out,” Imhof added. “She played a little doubles, and a little first singles, second singles, and third singles. I think she settled in at the third singles spot, where she went undefeated.”
Imhof hopes these three Lady Titans, and a few others can help spark a deep postseason run this year after the heartbreaking loss to Christian Heritage last season. They want to win a state title.
Despite losing four seniors from a year ago, Imhof is “pleasantly surprised” with the team’s success.
“We thought this was going to be a rebuilding year because of losing those seniors, but there have been some nice ninth-graders that have joined our team. And people who were playing doubles moved up to singles, so I’ve been pleasantly surprised,” Imhof said. “There were really only two players that started last year, Riley Payne in doubles and Anika in singles, that were returned this season.”