The Lady Greyhounds saw their season come to an end on the GHSA Class AAAAA girls state tennis tournament last week, losing to Harris County 4-1.
And although there’s a degree of letdown for any season coming to its conclusion, there’s plenty of excitement around the Lady Greyhounds tennis program.
That’s because, despite having a young roster, Jones County improved as the season went on, and it was good enough to make a return to the state tournament.
What’s more is that all of that young roster is set to return.
“They did a great job. They came off the court already talking about next year,” Lady Greyhounds head coach Kim Hanner said. “You always like for them to have a bit of a fire in their belly and being ready to go again.”
It’s a group from a tennis program that’s building an expectation for postseason play. In the past five state tournaments, the Lady Greyhounds have been part of it. That’s a standard that Hanner says has meaning for Jones County.
“The gaining of experience we had this year, we had some freshmen and nobody played in same position (in the lineup) as last year,” Hanner said. “So we probably won’t have to make many changes. The experience that they gained is priceless and we’ll have great expectations for next year.”
