On Oct. 16-17, the boys’ varsity tennis team participated in the Division 2 state finals against Midland Dow. After a successful season, the team performed well overall at states, but the standout by far was the top doubles team of Alex Prather ’22 and Blake Discher ’22 who took home the state title.
According to Prather, it was difficult being matched up against such a tough school. Midland Dow has a dedicated tennis team, giving South’s doubles team an intense match.
“It was a tough match but it ended great,” Prather said. “We had the whole team behind us. A lot of people that played on the team a couple years ago drove out from college. It was really cool to see everybody together. It was an awesome season.”
Discher said it took a lot of effort and practice to get to this point in their tennis career. Outside of normal matches, practice consisted of intense training and playing against other coaches.
“We practice a ton,” Discher said. “We played lots of matches against other schools to get to this point. Many times we played with other coaches. [They] were great and they helped us a ton. This year, we had Coach Willard and Coach Morgan.”
This match wasn’t only a defining moment for the tennis team as a whole, but it was Prather and Discher’s last season together and the culmination of years of effort. Both have been playing tennis for a long time, so they wanted to make the most of this final match.
“I’ve been playing tennis for 11 years,” said Discher. “ winning our last championships in high school was really important to me.”
Prather has been playing tennis for the past ten years and the boys have been doubles partners for the past two years.
“With my team, it was awesome. We always laugh and have tons of fun, specifically with my partner, Alex,” said Discher. “We’ve been playing tennis together since we were seven and have been doubles partners for two years now for high school tennis, and this year, we just put our all into it and we really matched.”
Winning the championship not only depended on doubles but the spirit of the team as a whole.
“Having the whole team cheering us on as we played was really motivating,” said Prather. “It made this championship a great experience.”