Senior-heavy South Aiken girls’ tennis team bringing depth, talent for potential playoff run

Oct. 22—Senior Night was a bittersweet one last week for the South Aiken girls’ tennis team.

That’s almost always the case when recognizing the accomplishments of a senior class, with the ceremony emphasizing that those players will soon be moving on from the program.

It’s a particularly large senior class for South Aiken, with six of the 10 players on the roster soon to play the final matches of their high school careers. That’s the bitter part, and it’s a story for another day.

The story now is about the sweet part, which is the season the T-Breds have put together and the potential deep playoff run waiting in front of them. That journey begins Oct. 23 as South Aiken, seeded fourth in the Class AAAA Lower State bracket, takes on 13th-seeded Hartsville.

“All of my girls are playing outstanding,” said South Aiken head coach Dee Dee Redd. “I’ve been able to play every player on my team this season at least four times, which means every girl is eligible for playoffs and every girl will be receiving a varsity letter. I think that shows just how deep the South Aiken team goes, that I can play all the way from 1 to 10 and they can still bring home the win.”

They’ve brought home plenty of wins this year, finishing the regular season with a record of 12-4. South Aiken went 12-2 in Region 4-AAAA play, falling only to top-seeded Gray Collegiate, and in those 12 victories won 66 lines while dropping only six.

Junior Anrei Delariarte has again led the way at No. 1 singles, while senior Sophia Rainchuso has played all but two matches at the No. 2 slot. From there, Redd has been able to use a mix of five players in the remaining three singles spots, and six different No. 2 doubles tandems have taken the court this season.

That’s the kind of depth that a lot of high school tennis teams simply don’t have, but it was evident during Senior Night that Redd has more than just a big, talented group of tennis players.

“I think you could hear it when the younger girls made their speeches (about the seniors). The crying and the breaking down and the true emotion of how South Aiken is more than a tennis team,” she said. “It’s a tennis family, and I think people can see that from the outside. Not just the people on the team, but when people talk to me they tell me about how great my girls are, not just at tennis, but how friendly they are, and they’re always nice, and they’re always making friends. I think that my four underclassmen really do look up to those seniors, and even my seniors look up to each other.”

Now’s the time for a potential playoff run, and this group has plenty of postseason experience with nearly every starter from last year’s trip to the third round back in the lineup this year. The T-Breds know they have their work cut out for them in a loaded Lower State bracket, and work is what they intend to keep doing.

“I think the fact that my girls have commented that we work all summer,” Redd said. “When they open it up that we’re able to start practicing, we start practice and we don’t stop. The energy, it’s a driving force from then until now. We look forward just like we’ve been looking back. We try our hardest, we play our best.

“I try my best every time we come out to play, I am the type of coach that doesn’t demand perfection. I say, ‘I want you to play your best.’ If we don’t win a line, there’s no fault. It’s just that that night, the other player was playing a better match and we’re going to win the next one.”