Berrien tennis once again wins region championship

Published 9:00 am Friday, April 15, 2022

NASHVILLE — The Berrien varsity girls tennis team traveled over to McKey Park in Valdosta to play in the 1-AA Region Tournament and came away with the championship for the seventh straight season.

Head coach Jarrett Luke’s squad defeated Cook, 3-0, in the semifinals, before winning over Worth County, 4-1-, in the finale.

Against Cook, the doubles combo of Lexi Knight and Karla Wiley won, 6-2, 6-0, with Kayla Wiley and Kailey Griffin combining for a 6-0, 6-0 victory. With her team already ahead 2-0, Gracie Barfield won, 6-2, 6-2 to seal the victory. Berrien then pulled singles Carrie Osborne and Brooklyn Cersey.

In the finals against Worth, Karla Wiley and Knight gave Berrien a 1-0 advantage with a straight set, 6-1, 6-0 win. Kayla Wiley and Griffin won 6-1, 6-2 for another quick 2-0 lead.

Worth won at singles to cut the lead to 2-1, but Barfield won 7-5, 6-4 and Cersey won, 7-5, 6-2 at almost the same time for the 4-1 final score.

Berrien went undefeated in Region 1-AA play by winning the regular season and region tournament championship. They are now 16-2 overall and have now won 70 consecutive region matches.

“We came ready to play,” said Luke. “ The girls have worked really hard and had great attitudes and we are looking forward to hosting the state playoffs in Nashville next week.“

Team members are seniors Osborne and Barfield; juniors Cersey and Knight; sophomores Karla Wiley, Griffin and Allison Roberts and freshmen Kayla Wiley, Alli Butler, Kenley Hughes, Victoria Varn and Gracie Harnage.

Berrien will next host Lamar County Tuesday, April 19, in the first round of the state tournament. Matches will take place on the courts behind Hardee’s in Nashville.