The Morgan tennis teams experienced a mixture of euphoria and disappointment in the AISA State Tournament on Tuesday in Montgomery.

The Lady Senators came up a handful of points shy from knocking off Fort Dale and repeating as AISA Class AAA champions. Morgan and Fort Dale tied for the title last year.

“I think everybody played really well, all to our best abilities,” said Laura Talton. “We gave up a fight. I think absolutely we were very proud of ourselves.”

The good news is that the Morgan girl’s team will return their five best players next year.

The boy’s team turned its fortunes for the better. At this time last year, the Senators wrapped up a disappointing tournament that included only two wins. A mere 365 days later, Morgan reached the tournament and placed third.

“It’s a pretty great year. I think we finished where we wanted to finish,” said Walt Simpson. “We weren’t expecting to take third. We were content to take third.”

According to girl’s coach Frances Henderson and boy’s coach Baxter Stinson, the results experienced by both teams were the result of months of hard work.

“These 10 young people worked hard for three months learning to be better tennis players and getting in better shape,” said Henderson. “Of these 10 players, only one is a senior, so the next few years are looking good.”

Hunter Henson attributed the turnaround to Stinson.

“We were just really happy because last year, only one us made it to the second round,” said Henson. “It was just hard work and [Stinson] started pushing us hard.