DECATUR— West Forsyth’s run through the Class AAA state tennis playoffs turned into a full-fledged marathon Tuesday.   

After more than four hours of play, No. 2 St. Pius X edged the No. 4 Lady Wolverines 3-2 in the Class AAA quarterfinals at the DeKalb Tennis Center.  

West won the first two singles points, but the matchup came down to the third set in No. 2 doubles, where the St. Pius X pair of Katie Bachman and Ansley Jones topped Savannah Miller and Amanda Conklin 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. The Lady Wolverines dropped both doubles matches against the Golden Lions.   

“Well, it stinks that we had to end with a loss. We should have won this match,” said West Forsyth coach James Hallewell. “We were leading in two doubles and one doubles and we have had that problem all year. When you come to these bigger matches, you’ve got to get one of the doubles’ points.”   

West closes out the season with an 18-5 record and plenty of hope for the future. West made its postseason run with three freshmen in singles competition.  

“For as young as a team I had, it is a great season,” Hallewell said.  “We made it one step further than we did last year. ... We’ve just got to get ready for [Class] AAAAA next season because every match is going to be like this.”  

In singles, West has a strong base returning. Freshmen Jenna Brunner and Madison Umbaugh won their matches against the Golden Lion at the top two singles positions. Brunner notched the first point by topping Katie Doherty 6-3, 6-4, while Umbaugh beat Mimi Bollaci  6-3, 6-4 to give West a 2-1 lead.   

“Both singles one and two had outstanding years as freshmen,” Hallewell said of Brunner and Umbaugh. “It is always good to be young and go on next year.”  

St. Pius’s comeback started and ended with doubles. The pair of Sarah Swann and Maddie Driscoll-Miller tied the score at No. 1 doubles by beating Taylor Hensley and Sydey Niemi 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.  Mary Walker Mixon then defeated West’s Megan Alligheri 6-3, 6-3 in singles to tie things up.   

“Pius played well and they played the big points well,” Hallewell said. “One doubles was really close. We were up 3-0 and 4-2 in the second after winning the first set and we just started to play not to lose instead of to win. St. Pius kind of got the momentum.”