Bridgeman starts 2nd season of Darlington High School’s Girls Tennis
Top left to right: Margaret Godbold, Isabella Haynes, Ryanne Weatherford, Ericka Smith, Christina Wenteler, Lauren McLennan, Claire McLennan
Bottom left to right: Coach Cameron Bridgeman, Gracelyn Nichols, Ella Watford, Madison Suggs, Kinsley Chestnut, Laurel Dennis
Photo contributed
By Will Isgett, Contributing Writer
The Darlington High School Tennis team had a very successful stint last season under first year coach Cameron Bridgeman, finishing second in the region and hosting a first round playoff match.
Now the expectations are much higher for the Lady Falcons after a move up to Class 4A, where they battle Hartsville and new conference member Lugoff-Elgin for the region crown.
“I believe moving up to 4A will be very beneficial to the team,” Bridgeman said. “It’ll definitely allow us to play at a higher level of competition.”
Darlington returns five players and Coach Bridgeman said all of her players are standouts in some sort of way.
“My top five players are strong,” Bridgeman said. “I also feel the other players have a lot of talent to.”
Playing number one singles for the Lady Falcons again this year will be Christina Epps, while Isabella Haynes is playing in the number two spot. Laurel Dennis and Margaret Godbold are in the third and fourth positions while Kinsley Chestnut is starting at the number five spot.
Bridgeman said that transitioning into her second season as the varsity coach has been smooth and with the help of DHS boys varsity coach Van Tynee things are even better.
“I’ve used several strategies with the girl’s team that I leaned from Coach Van Tynee,” Bridgeman said.
One thing Bridgeman did to strengthen her team this season was encouraging her players to participate in camps/leagues over the summer.
Bridgeman encourages everyone to come out and watch the great talent that DHS tennis has to offer this season.
The Lady Falcons recently picked up a big win over Class 5A South Florence but dropped a close match to West Florence. Upcoming home matches include South Florence on September 6 and Camden on September 29.
The team plays its home matches at the Bill Cain Tennis Center, located off of Orange St. in Darlington.