FRANKLIN
The Conference 41 girls final tennis tournament was on May 21-22. Dealing with rain on Thursday, matches were at the courts at Franklin High School and indoors at the James L. Camp Jr. YMCA. Four high schools were competing in singles and doubles to be able to advance forward to the regional tournament. Those schools were from Surry, Northampton, and Franklin high schools, and the Appomattox Regional Governor’s School.

Advancing in matches in Franklin for the Lady Broncos was Brianna Karmilovich. Playing at the No. 1 position for the Lady Broncos, Brianna advanced in the round of 16 by defeating Braila Pierce of Surry, 8-0. In the quarterfinals she defeated Sarah Seward of ARGS, 6-1, 7-5. During the semifinals Vondala Saunders of Surry High School and Brianna went game for game in the first set to reach 6-all and force a 7-point tiebreak. Brianna placed the ball and moving her opponent around came out on top, 7-1. For the second set Saunders, who had just had a tough quarterfinal match, gave out and lost the 6-0.

With the sun shining brightly on Friday morning, the tournament play was at the Howard Mast Tennis Complex in Suffolk. Facing Angela Head of Northampton in the finals, Brianna in the first set had her opponent at set point, but couldn’t put the ball away for the win. As the score soon tied at 6-all, it was into another tiebreak for the first set. Going into a 7-point tiebreak, Brianna went down 1-7. Not recovering from a grueling first set match, Brianna lost 6-0 in the second set.

The only other Lady Bronco to advance in the tournament was Elizabeth Conner. After defeating Bria Gholston of Surry 8-6 in the first round, Elizabeth defaulted after a leg injury in the round of 16.