ALTAMONTE SPRINGS — The Niceville girls tennis team is two wins away from a state title.
A gritty 4-1 win over Innovation in the 3A state quarterfinals on Wednesday has the third-seeded Eagles headed to the Final 4 and a date with second-seeded Jensen Beach Thursday morning at Sanlando Park.
Annaliese Drab and Isabella Faccini secured a 4-1, 4-1 win at the No. 1 doubles spot and Drab, Audrey Hill and Savannah McOuat won their singles matches in straight sets to bring home the win,And Faccini was up a set in her No. 4 singles match and Eleanor Randolph was battling back from a set down in the No. 3 singles match.
“It started with our No. 1 doubles, so that was great to see,” Niceville coach Christ Poate said. “Our No. 2 doubles played quite well but just fell short, and then the singles were all actually really tight. The score line makes it look pretty clear, but our girls had to battle.”
Poate chalked up the team’s perseverence in the opener to “good chemistry” and focus.
“They were just ready to go, well prepared,” he said. “We were favored, but it was not a big difference.”
Because Niceville has been here time and time again, there was no celebration following the win. Only a renewed focus for Jensen Beach, who is seeded slightly ahead of Niceville at No. 2 and will be favored Thursday with a collective UTR that’s around 1.5 points higher than the Eagles.
That’s what makes the two opening doubles matches carry added weight for the Eagles, who have yet to lose to a Florida foe all season.
“If we can get both those, that’ll be huge,” Poate said of doubles play. “But we must win one of those two. At the end of the day with two evenly-matched teams, it’s going to come down to who has the better doubles.”
This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Niceville girls tennis wins 3A state opener, advances to Final 4
Reporting by Seth Stringer, Northwest Florida Daily News / Northwest Florida Daily News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
