Story By DRUW GIAMALVA
MOBILE – History has been made for the Sardis Lady Lions’ tennis program, as they captured their first AHSAA Class 4A/5A State tennis championship in school history on Friday.
The Lady Lions, led by coach Amanda Johnson, totaled 65 points to win by 23 points over runner-up Deshler High School, who totaled 42 points. Saint James came in third-place with 36 points, followed by Donoho (34 points), Randolph (31 points) and Briarwood Christian (30 points). The following are the state championship matchups that took place on Friday at Mobile Tennis Center:
SINGLES
No. 1: Lova Stenberg, Randolph (26-4) def. Callie Rae Bonds, Sardis (43-1), 6-3, 6-3
No. 2: Abigail Black, Deshler def. Ashley Brooke Tomberlin, Briarwood, 6-4, 6-3
No. 3: Taylor Johnson, Sardis def. Emma Jahraus, Briarwood, 6-4, 6-0
No. 4: Jesa Leigh Bonds, Sardis def. Margaret Harbor, Briarwood, 6-2, 6-1
No. 5: Olivia Willis, Saint James def. Alexia Carter, Briarwood, 6-3, 6-3
No. 6: Raleigh Court, Saint James def. Claire Tollison, Donoho, 6-2, 6-4
DOUBLES
No. 1: Callie Rae Bonds/Jayden Johnson, Sardis def. Lova Stenberg/Emma Skinner, Randolph, 7-5, 7-5
No. 2: Taylor Johnson/Jesa Leigh Bonds, Sardis def. Abigail Black/Campbell Norris, Deshler, 6-1, 6-2
No. 3: Natalie Rodgers/Samantha Wakefield, Donoho def. Madelyn Hall/Haisten Grace Price, Providence Christian, 6-1,6-3
The achievement of winning a State championship was a dream for Johnson, who came to Sardis in 2012 to revitalize the tennis program.
“I revitalized the tennis program and began coaching at Sardis in 2012. A few years later, Coach Dustin Young joined the program. His daughter, Maddie Young, was on the first team I coached at Sardis. I’m the girls head coach, he is the boys head coach, but we work together and are each other’s assistant respectively. We saw it start with winless seasons, and now we have had multiple undefeated seasons and championships. My career has been a blessing, not because of the wins and losses, but because of the relationships it created. We established expectations with goals to improve ourselves, cultivating a winning attitude, incorporating our faith and learning to be a team. As things moved along, we developed a saying when we had to play big and did, we called it ‘Big Girl Tennis,’ and now simply #BGT. It’s our brand, our style, our motivation,” Johnson said.
“The program has been building since it began with the goal always being to win championships. The girls have won eight of the last nine sectional tournaments and competed at state all eight of those years.”
To prepare for the State championship, Johnson and her team would schedule tough matchups and would practice year-round to get ahead of their competition.
“As a team, we would practice in January every day the weather allows. These girls practice year-round. You will see them on courts all around our area playing with anyone and everyone. We tried to play a competitive schedule during the season to make them better and get them used to pressure. They beat 7A Hewitt-Trussville in a tournament 5-2. They beat Pell City 9-0. They beat Cullman 7-2. They were 20-0 counting the regular season and two tournaments where you played the teams head-to-head. They won the sectional tournament, winning at all nine positions.”
Johnson believes the success of the season came from a group effort, as the team became like a family to each other.
“The reason this season was such a success was because every player contributed. They became like family. They didn’t care which position they played and would play wherever I asked them to play. Each player wanted what was best for the team,” she said.
“Tennis is an individual sport, and it is hard sometimes to get those individual players to form a team. We were at a match one evening and I overheard the opposing team coach tell his players, that is why they didn’t win. He said, ‘look at the Sardis girls, they are over there cheering for each other after they finish their matches, and you guys are all over here on your phones.’
“Callie Rae Bonds played number one in singles and doubles. She was undefeated in singles until her loss in the State finals. She is a junior and a quiet leader. She is one of the most positive players I have ever coached. She encouraged the other girls that way, always believing in them.
“Jayden Johnson is a senior who played two singles and one doubles. She played one for us last year and continued to be a vocal leader this year. Callie Rae got the worst singles draw at state, and her and Jayden’s doubles draw was not that much better. But if you are the one and two, you are playing everyone’s best players.
“I had told Coach Dustin Young and Coach Evan Johnson that if the number one doubles team beat Briarwood Thursday morning, we would win state. I knew that would set the tone for the rest of the tournament, and the other players would believe they could win and would expect to win.
“The number three doubles, Landrey Johnson and Julia Phillips, actually finished with the first win. Two doubles, Jesa Leigh Bonds and Taylor Johnson, and one doubles followed shortly after. That first day, we won 16 of the 18 matches and the two matches we lost, we lost in tiebreakers.
“Some big wins for us on the first day were also Libby Kate Talton, who drew Briarwood first in singles. She fought back from a set down to win it in a tiebreaker. Her win gave us points but took points away from Briarwood.
“Number one doubles won their second round of doubles against Deshler in a tiebreaker, which was another scenario that gave us points, but didn’t allow our competition to gain any ground on us. Going into the second day we had all 3 doubles teams and four singles in the semifinals.”
Despite winning it all, Johnson’s reasoning for coaching is to build relationships with her players, allowing them to develop and grow into amazing adults.
“In Alabama athletics, your goal is always to win the blue map. It better not be the reason you coach, because for most it never happens or very rarely happens. But wow, how amazing when it all comes together, and you win one,” Johnson said.
“I coach because of the relationships. It is the ministry that God has given me. Players develop and change and grow into amazing adults. We had alumni there watching and cheering us on, they knew what it took to get there, and what it took to win it. Seeing them or their parents there, receiving texts and calls from others and being in the moment with the current team reaffirmed effort, hard work, great attitudes and a ball bouncing your way on a given day is worth it.
“The tennis community is small, and having a team from your area having a chance to win a championship draws the support from many of the surrounding teams and their communities. They too were there to support us.”
The key factor that contributed to the Lady Lions’ success was commitment and love for each other.
“These girls love each other, and they are committed to each other,” Johnson said. “They know that between the lines it’s time to play and play hard. They push each other to be better, but in a positive way, where they can leave it on the court at the end of practice, win or lose. They understand that there are things bigger than tennis but can make tennis big in the way they play, the effort they give, who they play for. Their faith is important to them, their families are important to them and their school/community is important to them.
“We only had two seniors, Jayden and Libby. They are special young ladies with talents and gifts beyond their tennis skills. They persevered, they were driven and they followed the expectations generated by those before them. They left their mark on the program.”
Johnson would also like to thank the parents and the administration of Sardis High School for the outstanding support during their championship run.
“We have had outstanding support from our parents and administration … we could not succeed without them. A small program with a small budget, but they make us feel big and always take care of us. Our community is also very supportive and appreciative of our success,” Johnson concluded.
