By BY BRUCE HIXON – SPORTS EDITOR
They may not have won any matches in their first appearance at the Class 4A state tournament, but T.R. Miller Tigers tennis coach Paul Smith said his team was not merely along for the ride in Wednesday's opening round held at Montgomery's Lagoon Park.
The T.R. Miller coach said the state tournament atmosphere was much different than what his players had previously experienced.
T.R. Miller's number one singles entry, Stephen Neal, fell in the opening round to Haleyville 6-1, 6-0.
Number two Karl Kast received a first-round bye and then lost to a player from Trinity Presbyterian 6-0, 6-3 in round two.
Number three Marshall Bracken drew a first-round bye and fell to Cherokee County's entry 6-1, 6-0 in round two.
Number four Roy Brown got a first-round bye and lost to a player from Brooks 6-2, 6-4 in round two.
Drew Lambert got a bye and fell to his Jemison opponent 6-2, 6-3 in round two.
The only T.R. Miller player to win a set in singles play was Todd Robinson. Robinson dropped his first-round match to a player from Guntersville 6-2, 1-6, 7-5.
The other entry where the Tigers won a set came in number one doubles. T.R. Miller's team of Neal and Bracken got a first-round bye and fell to their counterpart from Brooks 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 in round two.
Guntersville ousted T.R. Miller's number two doubles entry of Kast and Brown 6-3, 6-3 in round two after the Tigers' entry received a first-round
The number three doubles duo of Nick Moore and chase Crosby received a first-round bye and fell to Trinity Presbyterian 6-, 6-1 in round two.
Smith said the season was still a huge success despite coming up short at state.