The Lady Raider Tennis Team shows off their District Title trophy after winning the District 8AAA Title on Monday at Shelbyville. They are from left: Coach Audra Brown, Kayla Wright, Alli Shelton, Carlee Reed, Savannah Hodge, Alex Crossland, Maddie Taylor and head coach Mike Ray
A hard forehand off the racket of Lady Raider Alex Crossland struck the tape at the top of the net and eased across to give Coffee County their first district tennis team title this century on Monday afternoon. The Lady Raiders scored wins in 4 of their 5 singles matches to upset Shelbyville on their home court by a final of 4 to 1. Clinching the match in singles, Coffee County and Shelbyville did not need to play their doubles matches. In singles play, Crossland beat Shelbyville’s Sydney Cooper 9 to 7 in the #2 singles match. Carleee Reed of the Lady Raiders fell to Shelbyville’s #1 Keely Smith 8 to 1. Maddie Taylor defeated Aria Harwel 8 to 4 at #3 while Savannah Hodge also got an 8 to 4 win over Madison Brown at #4. Alli Shelton got the 4th win, playing at #5, mere moments prior to Crossland’s win by a final of 8 to 6 over Shelbyville’s Priscilla Morales. With the win, the Lady Raiders will advance to the Region 4AAA Team Tennis tournament on Thursday in Murfreesboro. Coffee County, making their first region appearance in more than 15 years, will take on Siegel at Old Fort Park in Murfreesboro with matches starting at 4:00 PM.
