The Newton boys and girls tennis teams dropped a pair of sweeps Tuesday night to region rival Rockdale County in Region 2-AAAAAA action.
The Rams fell 5-0 in boys action, while the Newton girls also failed to pick up an individual win against the Lady Bulldogs, falling 5-0.
Despite the sweep, Newton coach Michael Bryan said his teams can learn a lot from emulating the Bulldogs.
"I think Rockdale's teams are the strongest in the region once again,” Bryan said. “We knew this going into the match and the Rockdale teams played true to their reputation. We are still a young team and we must work hard to improve as we move deeper into the region schedule.”
In singles action, the Ram’s Craig Thomas fell 8-0 to Rockdale’s Patrick Sanders in No. 1 singles, while the Bulldogs’ Logan Hull also sweptt Newton 8-0 in No. 3 singles action Anthony Bradley.
Trey Hull wrapped up the Bulldogs’ sweep in singles play in Rockdale’s closest single match of the day, defeating Newton’s Tufail Khan 8-1 in No. 2 singles.
Newton fared better in doubles action, taking the No. 1 doubles match to 12 games. Demetrius Calhoun and Tamar Thomas battled back and forth with the Bulldogs’ Abenet Addisu and Bruce Mitchell, but fell 8-4.
Rockdale wrapped up the win in No. 2 doubles, as the Bulldogs’ team of Tyyon Anthony and Aaron Barron downed Newton’s Chris Scott and Marcus Willis 8-0.
Newton girls falter
The Lady Rams didn’t have much success against the Lady Bulldogs either, totaling just seven individual game victories against Rockdale.
Bri Weaver fell 8-0 in No. 1 singles to the state’s 11th ranked player, Summer Walker, while Rockdale’s Destiny Commodore defeated Irma Soriano 8-0 in No. 2 singles.
Rockdale’s Alliyah Byrd helped the Lady Bulldogs remain perfect in singles play, earning an 8-1 victory over Ashley Jean-Baptiste in No. 3 singles.
Newton forced double-digit games in both singles matches, but the Lady Rams’ team of Ify Egbulem and Hanah Scott fell 8-2 in No. 1 singles to Abby Bradford and Tiara Anthony before Rockdale’s McKenna Commiskey and GG Manuel wrapped up the win with an 8-4 victory over Ja’lynne Cole and Brooke Menchion.
Rockdale coach Stephen Sansing said his players were ready for their first region battle.
"Newton has improved since last year, so I knew we had to play well," Sansing said. "The kids were fired up for the first region match, and I think it showed. We have a couple fighting nagging injuries, so for us to play as well as we did, I was very pleased. As I always say, its just nice to get that first region victory of the season."
