As the weekend of Jan. 26 and the Sectional Championships in Baton Rouge approaches, the Jackie Handjis 7.5 Senior Women’s tennis team is in full preparation mode.

The team consists of team captain Jackie Handjis, Cathy Greene, Cecelia Forman, Augusta Smith, Wanda Horne, Diane Hebert, Tina Gilbert, Dorothy Courville , Mary Ruth Caldwell, Sandy Horne, Carolyn White and Lynette Tanner.

The team qualified for the Sectional Championships by winning their division in the BMW Combo Doubles Championships in Jackson.

Handjis said that was the first time her team has won their division in the state tournament.

“Its real hard to get past the Jackson teams because they pick and choose their players for their teams,” she said.

By advancing to the Sectional Championship, the team will face state-division winners from North Carolina, Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia and Louisiana. The Sectional Championships are as far as the team can compete since there is no national tournament.

In the combo tennis format, individual players are computer rated each year and assigned a rating, similar to a handicap in golf. The ratings are based on the number of wins and losses a player compiles throughout the year, and each player’s rating is updated yearly.

Handjis said in combo doubles, players with different ratings can be paired together in doubles action, and compete against teams with different combo ratings.

She said her team has been together for five years, and added that some members of her team have qualified for the Sectional Championships in prior years competing in mixed doubles.

Handjis said she took up the game of tennis when she was 30 after injuring her knee playing softball. She said she could no longer play softball after the injury and tennis became her athletic outlet. She said she has been playing ever since.

“Tennis is great exercise, it’s a game for life,” Handjis said. “It’s a great lifestyle and you meet great people.”

“I encourage everybody to take up tennis.”