Blue Devils blitz Mill Creek, advance to tennis Elite Eight
Published 3:22 pm Wednesday, April 23, 2025
- Becky Taylor/The Tifton Gazette Adam Beck keeps a rally going for himself and Jack Medina in doubles. Mill Creek finally hit a return out-of-bounds, giving Tift a 2-0 lead.
TIFTON — It’s not just the temperatures hot right now, but also Tift County tennis. The Blue Devils advanced to their first elite eight since 2008 Wednesday with a 3-0 win over visiting Mill Creek.
“We played well today,” said head coach Ivey Vickers. “This group’s very, very special. They work hard.”
Elijah Hellman was the first to win a set, and the first to finish. Hellman swept Aiden Bernstein, 6-1, 6-1.
Tift County won all of its first sets, though in the case of Josh Hellman, his brother had already finished up by the time Josh completed even one set. Josh Hellman rallied for a 6-6 tie before finally taking the set, 8-6.
Becky Taylor/The Tifton Gazette
While his singles teammates tend to use power, Elijah Hellman’s scientific approach saw him win two quick sets for the Tift win over Mill Creek.
Fortunately, Josh Hellman did not have to stay on the court long before his teammates wrapped everything up.
No. 2 doubles, Jack Medina and Adam Beck, took a 1-0 set lead at about the same time as Maitrey Patel did at No. 2 singles.
Beck and Medina earned their first set, 6-3, and quickly jumped out in front in the second. Meanwhile Seth Denham and Matthew Layfield won their initial set, 6-4.
Momentum was building for the Blue Devils. Medina and Beck watched a Mill Creek shot land out of bounds, giving Tift a 2-0 lead on the 6-2 set win.
Patel went ahead 4-2 in his second set, then 5-2 and 5-3. He needed one more game. Serving, Patel went up 40-15. After faulting on his first serve, the second tipped the net, but landed in. One more try. This time, the serve was in and he began a rally with Liam Rabdam. A return from Raddam sailed and Patel kept his eye on it as it went over the back line.
Patel completed the set, 6-3 and the Devils advanced to the quarterfinals.
“Maitrey came through big,” Vickers said.
The timing ended what could have been a larger Mill Creek rally. No. 1 doubles was now tied as Matt Karanlic and Brett Wilson took the second set, 6-2.
“Now we wait for a couple of weeks,” said Vickers. That likely is not an understatement.
West Forsyth won its first-round against Brookwood, 3-0, but Hillgrove and Grovetown have yet to play theirs. Teams have through Thursday to finish the first round. West Forsyth would still need to face the Hillgrove/Grovetown winner — and they have through April 29 to do that — before scheduling with Tift.
The deadline for the quarterfinals is May 5.
