David Emanuel Academy was well represented at the 2026 State Individual Tennis Tournament, highlighted by a strong run to the state finals in girls’ doubles.
In girls’ doubles, Kaley Flowers and Payton Peebles entered the tournament as the #3 seed and received a first-round bye. In the quarterfinals, they defeated Remington and Ison from St. George to advance. In a hard-fought semifinal match against McNeely and Miller from TJA, Flowers and Peebles dropped a tight first set 6-7 in a tiebreak, bounced back to win the second set 6-4, and secured the match with a 10-7 win in the third-set tiebreak. They advanced to the state championship match, where they came up short, falling 4-6, 4-6 to Belcher and Baxley from Grace Christian to finish as state runner-up. In girls’ singles, Emily McRae was defeated in the first round by Grace Cook from Covenant Academy.
In boys’ doubles, Paxton Dixon and Ben Griner, also a #3 seed, received a first-round bye. They advanced to the semifinals after defeating Heard and West from Westwood in the quarterfinals. Dixon and Griner were defeated in the semifinals by Adams and Reynolds from Grace Christian.
Also competing in boys’ doubles, AJ Edenfield and Jack Evan Fields were defeated in the first round by Allen and Zerla from LaGrange Academy.
Both teams now set their sight to the Team State Tournament, which will take place Tuesday and Wednesday 4/28-29 in Macon.
