PAIDEIA 3, ATHENS ACADEMY 1: For the second day in a row, a Paideia team brought heartbreak to Athens Academy. On Friday evening, the Pythons soccer team eliminated the Spartans from the Class A state tournament and on Saturday afternoon, Paideia’s tennis team claimed the Class A Private state championship at Athens Academy’s expense.
“Sometimes it’s just hard to do it out there,” Athens Academy coach Jami Cashin said. “There were some unforced errors that we couldn’t quite keep down but there were times when we played so well we made it look easy. It wasn’t so much the other team beating us as it was us committing unforced errors at not great times.”
The Spartans’ lone win came from No. 2 doubles, where Hatton Abernathy and Elijah Gabriel were victorious.
Unfortunately for Athens Academy, two-sport star Magill Bauerle suffered a knee injury in the soccer team’s loss Friday night and while he gamely took to the court Saturday, Cashin said he was dealing with a difficult and painful situation.
Baurele, Rob Clements and Jordan Sennowitz (who played No. 1 doubles) are graduating this year, but the Spartans will return Abernathy and Gabriel (who were freshmen), Alex Boyette and Rolf Reynolds.
The No. 1 team from Area 2-AA, Athens Academy — which lost only one match during the regular season and finished 17-2 — defeated Galloway 3-0 in the first round and Walker 3-0 in the second round before besting First Presbyterian Day 3-2 in the semifinals.