Mary Weston Courville named All-Bi-City Girl’s Tennis Player of the Year

In Mary Weston Courville’s 2017 season, the Columbus sophomore made quick work of her opponents again and again.

Playing as the Lady Blue Devils’ No. 1 singles player, Courville racked up an 18-1 record, the lone loss coming to a player from Class 5A’s Starr’s Mill during the Granger Tournament in March. For good measure, Courville came back and beat that same opponent during Columbus’ regular season match with Starr’s Mill.

For her stellar play, Courville has been named the 2017 All-Bi-City Girls Tennis Player of the Year.

Courville and the Lady Blue Devils entered the season fresh off a championship season. While the team was determined to grab another title, Courville said the start to the season took more adjustment than they expected.

“It was kind of hard following the year before last,” Courville said. “We kind of got off to a rough start (this year). We played a tournament and didn’t do (as well) as we hoped. Throughout the season, we started figuring out our lineup and stuff, and we started to do much better.”

The team responded well after the early misfires, eventually capturing the Region 1-4A title and a top seed in the Class 4A state tournament. With Courville’s help, the Lady Blue Devils reached the quarterfinals before losing to North Oconee.

Courville, much like Boys Tennis Player of the Year Jacob Yates, listed the team’s tournament at Jekyl Island as one of her personal highlights. Beating so many quality opponents in the local area wasn’t bad, either.

“It felt really good,” Courville said. “I had some challenges with some of the girls around here, so it’s really good for me to step through that and have all my wins in Columbus.

Courville’s tennis is far from limited to her play for Columbus. She drives to Atlanta twice a week and plays in tournaments at least two or three weekends every month. Her play has garnered her recognition from the Columbus Regional Tennis Association, which gave her the Junior Player of the Year and the Nelson Tyrone Memorial Sportsmanship Award this year.

Courville’s summer will include plenty of tennis play, including a trip to Virginia Beach for the National Clay Court Championships and one to San Diego in August for the National Hard Court Championships.

Courville said high school tennis is a needed change-up, saying it’s less intense and more fun to be playing with her Columbus teammates. Her goal once spring rolls around is to again help Columbus win a state title, though she knows plenty of work is needed to make it happen.

“We’re losing quite a few seniors this year,” Courville said. “Hopefully we can go into this next season and do really well throughout the season and into the playoffs.

“It was the best season ever my freshman year. It would be so awesome to repeat that.”

This story was originally published June 24, 2017 at 4:35 PM with the headline "Mary Weston Courville named All-Bi-City Girl’s Tennis Player of the Year."