Nansemond River High School girls’ tennis team lost to an unbeaten Maury High School team Thursday morning in the Class 5 Region A tournament.

After shutting out Kecoughtan High School 5-0 Monday afternoon, the Lady Warriors advanced to the regional semifinals against Maury. Both teams squared off at Huntington Park in Newport News, and Maury was the victor at 5-0.

Nansemond River fell short of making the state tournament after making it the last few seasons. However, the first season under coach Rush Cole can be looked at as a success. After Coach Shamus Riley stepped down, Cole was able to come in and help coach NRHS to another regional appearance.

“I am very proud of the girls and what they accomplished with limited experience,” he said. “Our top two players were in the lineup last year and were very productive on the court again this season. Our 3-6 players stepped up to the challenge even though a few of them have only been playing for a couple of years. We had a great season.”

Hannah Ramey and Lauren Ramey returned as the top two players this season. The goals for the Lady Warriors were to be as good as they could be while also getting as much experience as they could. They earned the No. 3 seed in the region and were able to host their quarterfinal matchup against Kecoughtan.

There were growing pains in the process of Cole getting to know his players and his players getting to know him. His main objective was for his players to develop self-reliance and ownership of their games. He continued to build confidence in his team, and more success started to follow.

“I saw a lot of development in that area, and I am very proud of the whole team, from the returners to the first-year players,” he said.

Maury 5, Nansemond River 0

Z. Migliozzi (MHS) def. I. Viado 6-0, 6-1

Zo. McMorris (MHS) def. L. Pearl 6-0, 6-1

C. Laplace (MHS) def. M. Roach 6-2, 6-2

K. Pugh (MHS) def. H. Neal 6-0, 6-1

Anderson (MHS) def. H. Ramey