RMS tennis sweeps Brooks

By Staff
Ben Richey, For the FCT
On Monday afternoon the Russellville Middle School tennis teams opened the season at Brooks with a resounding win for the boys and a close win for the girls.
Led by 8th grader Brandon King, the RMS boys beat Brooks 9-1. Down by two losses early in the match, the RMS girls battled back to beat the home team 5-4.
The RMS boys prevailed in all the singles matches except for one and swept the doubles matches. King (a 6-2 winner), Alex Richey (7-5), Cody Cameron (6-2), Jared McCalpin (6-1), Jordan Baker (6-4) and Dakota Crosslin (8-6) posted wins for RMS while John Fike (6-8) lost a close one.
In doubles, RMS had three wins as the teams of King-Richey (6-4), Cameron-Fike (6-0) and McCalpin-Baker (6-2) swept the Brooks boys.
The RMS girls had a more difficult time as they dug a deep hole for themselves in the doubles matches. The RMS girls, playing doubles first, quickly fell behind with two losses, but Anna Claire Burgess and Marilla Duncan swept their match 6-0 to begin the comeback for the Lady Golden Tigers.
The RMS girls fared better in the singles matches. Lauren Jackson (6-4), Cortney Wray (6-2), Burgess (6-1) and Duncan (6-0) all won their matches. McKenzie Messer (3-6) and Jordan Lindsey (0-6) lost to the top two girls on the Brooks team. Duncan's late victory put the win in the bag for the RMS girls.
RMS tennis coach Jill Phillips was pleased with her team's performance.
"Our boys did a good job, especially with it being our first match," Phillips said. "Brandon King is our number one and is back from last year. We expect a lot from him.
"The girls played a tough Brooks team. We have a very experienced squad and I expect them to really progress as the season develops."