by JB Wilson

On a sunny Tuesday afternoon, the Landrum men’s varsity tennis team sought their first team victory of the season against Greer.
The Cardinals weren’t able to notch a ‘W,’ but there were several positives to take away from the match; most notably the return of the team’s best player and leader.
Sophomore Harry Reed returned to action, having missed the previous two Landrum matches with a nagging ankle injury.
According to Reed’s father, the sophomore came back ready to go.
“Harry just got off crutches only three days ago.”
Perhaps the layoff was a good thing for Reed, as he was the only player to win his match March 22, defeating Greer’s number one singles player handily 6-2, 6-1.
Landrum Head Coach Deon Brice before the match said he was happy to have the sophomore back on the court.
“Harry is a great kid, and a really competitive kid too. He is definitely our team leader,” Brice said.
Those are very strong words for only a sophomore on a varsity squad. Then again, the Landrum tennis team is relatively young itself, competing in only its second season and first in regional play.
“We are very young,” Brice said.  “We’ve got a junior in Nathan Williams and a sophomore in Harry, but the rest of the team is eighth graders.”
Fortunately for Landrum’s yung squad, they have a player like Reed who leads by example both on and off the court. Reed is an accomplished player, ranking 80th in South Carolina’s U-16 USTA standings. As a freshman he was awarded the team’s Most Valuable Player honor.
Reed hopes to continue his tennis career in college, having already begun talks with elite schools such as West Point, Washington & Lee, University of South Carolina and the University of Georgia.
While none of Landrum’s other players were able to walk away with wins in yesterday’s match, junior Nathan Williams put forth a strong effort in the number two spot, losing in a very competitive match 6-4, 7-5.
Landrum played an away match against Chapman Thursday.