From 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.