back-to-back district crowns for lady eagles tennis

It turned out to be quite a memorable year for Seymour High School Eagles and Lady Eagles tennis teams.

Although both the boys and girls tennis squads from SHS saw their respective seasons come to a close this week in the region tournament, the Lady Eagles and the Eagles each brought home some hardware from last week’s District A/AA Tournament that was held at the Westside YMCA.

The Seymour girls’ tennis team continued its league dominance by winning the district tournament title for the third straight year. Maggie Dew, Seymour’s standout junior ace, tied a school record at the district tournament by defeating Rockwood’s Karissa King, 6-2, 6-0, to capture the district tournament singles crown for the second straight year.

Former Lady Eagles’ tennis hotshot Keely Moore won back-to-back district tournament titles in 2005 and 2006.

An 11^th grader in ‘08, Dew can break the school record if she can win her third straight district tournament championship next season in ‘09.

Dew also played a big role in helping the 2008 Lady Eagles equal another school record. The Seymour girls finished the season with an 11-2 overall mark, tying for the most team wins in school history.

The Eagles, meanwhile, were also able to finish the 2008 season on a positive note with a surprising second place finish in last week’s district tournament after going into the week as heavy underdogs because of their 4-14 regular season record.

SHS tennis coach James Cotter said it was uplifting to see such improvement from his young team—made up of six freshman and just three seniors—after going through such a trying regular season.

“I think the boys did a nice job in the district tournament, surprising a lot of people with their second place finish and showing such improvement after a season of learning,” said Cotter. “

“Kevin Byrne and Brent Markowitz played particularly well during the district tournament,” Cotter added. “That helps us finish a tough season with something positive.”

Cotter said the Lady Eagles were good this year but should be even better next year.

“The girls’ team, as a whole, played well,” said the veteran SHS tennis coach. “This is a pretty talented group and they’ll all be back next year.”