Sheets stays hot as Gate City girls advance to LPD Final

By CODY DALTION
TRICITIESSPORTS.COM

WISE -- Sophomore Tara Sheets rolled through her LPD Tournament match, as the Gate City girls tennis team defeated J.J. Kelly, five games to none on Tuesday. Sheets impressively defeated J.J. Kelly’s Kayli Bates, 6-0, 6-0 in their Semifinal match. Gate City has advanced to the finals and will play the Pound girls tennis team on Wednesday. “We have done well,” says Gate City Coach Jenny Gardner. “We lost four players last year, so we have four new players in our top six this year. They are doing well together.” When asked about the possibility at three state titles in a row, Coach Gardner said, “It would be great to win state three years in a row. It would be a pleasant surprise.”

The boys teams also had great matches, as J.I. Burton defeated J.J. Kelly, five matches to zero and Clintwood beat Coeburn, five matches to zero. Wes Ward, a member of the J.I. Burton boys team, won his match 6-0, 6-0 against Justin South. “Wes has come up big for us,” says J.I. Burton Coach Hank Hankins. “He has stepped up when people have been injured. We need to continue to help each other.” Burton will meet Clintwood for the LPD crown on Wednesday. “Winning the tournament would be a big springboard into the regionals and hopefully into state,” says Coach Hankins. The boys and girls finals matches will be played at 4:15 pm at the Humphreys Tennis Complex on the UVA-Wise campus.

Tuesday's match results were as follow:

Boys' Matches
J.I. Burton 5, J.J. Kelly 0
Singles
Caleb Crowder, J.I. Burton beat Mark Dotson, 2-6, 6-3, 6-0
Andrew Hylton, J.I. Burton beat Wes Sturgill, 6-2, 6-3
David Stacy, J.I. Burton beat Josh Darter, 6-4, 6-3
Wes Ward, J.I. Burton beat Justin South, 6-0, 6-0
Cody McElroy, J.I. Burton beat Mark Collins, 6-0, 6-1

Clintwood 5, Coeburn 0
Singles
Daniel Robinson, Clintwood beat Mitch Gibson, 6-0, 6-1
Jackson Mullins, Clintwood beat Aaron Beverly, 6-2, 6-2
Chad Holmes, Clintwood beat Gerald McCoy, 6-0, 6-2
Daniel Vanover, Clintwood beat Michael Sexton, 6-1, 6-2
Cody Swindall, Clintwood beat Jake Elkins, 6-1, 6-0

Girls' Matches
Gate City 5, J.J. Kelly 0
Singles
Tara Sheets, Gate City beat Kayli Bates, 6-0, 6-0
Krista Jenkins, Gate City beat Lindsey Cantrell, 6-0, 6-3
Kyndall Wininger, Gate City beat Catherine Rigg, 6-3, 6-2
Mallory Lane, Gate City beat Jessica Lawson, 6-1, 6-1
Kaitlyn Musick, Gate City beat Morgan Meade, 6-1, 6-0

Pound 5, J.I. Burton 2
Singles
Samantha Rife, Pound beat Aceshia Wampler, 6-1, 6-4
Kelsey Adkins, Pound beat Sharris Smith, 6-0, 6-1
Whitney Bolling, Pound beat Brittney Sarber, 6-0, 6-2
Rachel Wolfe, J.I. Burton beat Sydney Bowman, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
Megan Boggs, Pound beat Ashleigh Hunnicutt, 6-3, 6-0
Haley Dale, J.I. Burton beat Kristina Bolling, 6-0, 6-3

Doubles
Rife/Adkins, Pound beat Wampler/Smith, 6-1, 6-2