The Bainbridge High School Lady Bearcats’ tennis team are competing in the Final Four round of the Georgia AAAA tournament in Jonesboro, Ga., this morning.

The tournament started with 32 teams and is now down to just four. The Lady Bearcats are facing off against Starr’s Mill High School of Fayette County in matches played at the Clayton County International Park, home to a 17-court modern tennis center.

To get there, the Lady Bearcats had to defeat Lakeside-Evans High School of Augusta on Wednesday morning, winning three of the five matches against them. The matches were originally scheduled for last Friday but were rained out and postponed. Although play had begun Friday, they were restarted from scratch on Wednesday due to Georgia High School Association rules, Coach Nicki Shockley said.

The Lady Bearcats got off to a good start, as the No. 2 doubles team of seniors Kelsey Lambert and Anna Wells won by virtue of a forfeit. Then, the No. 1 doubles team of senior Caroline Rollins and sophomore Kristen Monson won their match handily, 6-0, 6-2. That meant BHS only had to win one more match. No. 2 Kylie McGlincy got there first, winning 6-1, 6-1, much to the delight of her teammates and the crowd of parents, fellow BHS students, teachers and administrators who had came out to cheer the team on.

The Lady Bearcats’ No. 1 and No. 3 singles players, Katie Monson and Anne Reynolds, did not have to finish their matches.

The Lady Bearcats have been on a roll all season. They finished the regular season with an undefeated 12-0 record, with no losses. They were champions of the Bainbridge Rotary Club invitational tournament, and won the Region 1-AAAA tournament. In the state tournament, they defeated Dutchtown 5-0 and S. Effingham by a 4-0 margin, before Wednesday’s victory.

The BHS girls’ tennis team have been region champs for the past three seasons, including the last two under Coach Shockley. Parents and teachers of the senior girls credited a strong tennis environment in Bainbridge with growing their talent.