Golden Tigers edge Northridge 5-4

By Staff
Kim West
The Russellville boys tennis team capped a 13-1 regular season by completing a season sweep over 6A Northridge at the Russellville Sports Center Friday.
Russellville edged the Jaguars 5-4 with three wins in singles play and two of three doubles matches.
After dropping the first set, T.J. Drake battled back to beat Mamoj Jagini 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 at No. 1 singles, while No. 5 Tyler Malone defeated Thomas Arnold 6-1, 6-0 and No. 6 John Tyler Hardin won 6-1, 6-0 against Richard Bryant.
Russellville's No. 2 Kiefer Rea and No. 4 Anthony Turner lost in three sets, while No. 3 Carson Hutchins fell to Salmann Kamal 5-7, 6-3.
In doubles play, the Golden Tigers' Drake-Hardin defeated Josh Faught-Edwards 6-4, 7-5 on the second court, while No. 3 Rea-Malone beat Arnold-Bryant 6-1, 6-0.
Russellville's Carson Hutchins and Anthony Turner lost to Jagini-Kamal on the No. 1 court (6-1, 7-5).
The Golden Tigers also won 5-4 at Northridge on March 10 with Drake, Malone, Hardin and Turner claiming singles victories along with the No. 3 doubles team of Rea and Malone.
"There's no other 5A team in the state that's played a tougher schedule than ours," Russellville coach Jimmy Rea said. "The players from Northridge play at a level we're going to see at the state tournament. We've also played several other 6A schools this season – Florence, Austin, Corinth, Miss. and Grissom, which gave us our only loss this season."
The Russellville boys, who won their third straight Section 4 championship Monday, took Saturday off and will arrive in Montgomery today for the Class 5A state tournament at Lagoon Park. The tournament will open Monday and conclude Wednesday.