The Walton girls won another region tennis title this week and will now begin to pursue their 22nd state championship.
The defending Class 7A champions have lost only one match this season, that coming without their full lineup against Westminster, a 4-3 setback. Since then Walton has won eight straight matches without losing a match and defeated Harrison in the Region 3 final.
Coach Anthony Fotti has encouraged his team to concentrate on bringing another state title back to Walton to re-establish the program’s dominance. Last year’s championship broke a two-year drought – the Raiders lost to Lambert in 2019 and the 2020 spring sports were cancelled because of COVID.
“I really pushed this year that we should re-establish our legacy and rattle off a couple in a row,” Fotti said. “Last year we were trying to prove ourselves and this year we’re taking everyone’s best shot.”
Walton has managed to do it with only one senior in the starting lineup.
It starts at No. 1 singles where Hayden Mulberry, the AJC Player of the Year as a freshman, has gone undefeated. Mulberry reached the Round of 16 at the USTA Girls 16s at the National Winter Championships in Orlando in December
“She’s picked up where she left off,” Fotti said. “She’s a machine. She is the very best high school tennis player I’ve ever seen.”
Junior Grace Keller plays No. 2 singles and Fotti said, “She would be a No. 1 on any other team.” Junior Amala Arun starts at No. 3 singles.
The No. 1 doubles team of Catherine Dierker and Abigail Morgan, a pair of juniors, has gone undefeated. The No. 2 team is made up of senior Mary Ashley Jacoppo and sophomore Natalie Kirka.
In addition to their success on the court, Fotti praised his girls for their kindness.
“This may be the nicest group of girls I’ve been around. It’s just a very nice group,” he said. “Our JV team had their championship match the other day and almost all the girls from the varsity team showed up and cheered them on. It wasn’t mandatory, they just decided to be there and show their support. It’s just a nice group.”
And the JV team beat Johns Creek for that championship, too.
Walton’s varsity will begin defense of its state title against the No. 4 seed from Region 1.
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