Westover boys tennis team heading to final four

The 2015 Westover tennis team is headed to the Georgia High School Association Class AAAA state tennis tournament semifinals where the Patriots will play at St. Pius X on Monday.

The Patriots, who finished as the third seed in the region tournament, defeated Perry (5-0) and Eagles Landing (3-0) to advance to the quarterfinals before knocking off region-foe Cook 3-2 on Wednesday.

The team is led by senior Lane Hatcher who is playing at No. 1 singles for the third season. The Patriots defeated Cook at No. 2 singles with senior Mark Petersen and at No. 3 singles with senior Thomas Langstaff, who is 16-0.

The No. 1 doubles team of Nathan Bell and John Hatcher had several big wins this season but lost a close three-set match on Wednesday.

The team match was tied 2-2 with the No. 2 doubles still playing. The teams split the first two sets, setting up a third set. The team of Alex Clenney and Marcial Saavedra broke Cook’s serve in the eighth game to win the court, 6-2, in the deciding set and clinch the victory.

The victory ignited a wild celebration for the Patriots, who will make their first appearance in the semifinals in coach John Scanling’s coaching career at Westover.