Marsh, Copeland to lead Brookwood tennis program
Coming off a successful spring 2018 season, Brookwood tennis will be led by a new coaching staff this coming year. Wallace Marsh and Danyelle Copeland, both new to Brookwood, will lead the charge, taking the reins from Dr. Jeremy Kasten. The 2018 version of Brookwood tennis was headlined by an undefeated regular season for the boys team. This concluded in an all-Brookwood doubles state championship match, featuring teammates Thomas Harrison and Bradley Merschman edging the team of Nic Kadel and Alden Harrison for the top spot in GISA 3A.
Marsh, who joins the staff as an Upper School teacher and head tennis coach, is glad to continue the momentum of last year’s run. Marsh played collegiately at Sewanee: The University of the South in Tennessee before moving on to do his graduate work at Yale.
A district and region champion in his time as a player at Warren County (Tennessee) High School, Marsh is looking forward to being back in the high school tennis scene. A major point of emphasis is sustaining the Warriors’ success.
“We’re excited to continue building upon the successful tradition of the Brookwood tennis program, which has been under the great leadership of Dr. Kasten,” he said. “We’re fortunate to work with some very talented players.”
With Thomas Harrison off to play collegiately at Sewanee in Tennessee,and the transfer of Merschman to IMG Academy in Florida, the new coaching staff will still have plenty of talent to develop. Kadel and Alden Harrisonreturn as sophomores, as well as Andrew Cooper as a junior. The girlsside loses GISA 3-3A Regionchampion Jenna Merschman to graduation, but return region runner-up Cricket Daniel as a senior.
Assisting Marsh will be Danyelle Copeland, daughter of former NFL defensive back and founder of COGI Athletic Company Danny Copeland. Danyelle was homeschooled all the way through high school graduation, giving her the ability to focus on traveling to and playing in USTA tournaments to build her individual ranking.
She played collegiately at both Eastern Florida State College and Benedict College in South Carolina. At Benedict, she helped the Lady Tigers to a 2017 SIAC championship by posting a perfect conference record in singles play that year. Currently working in Columbia, South Carolina, Copeland will move back to Thomasville in November before beginning work at Brookwood in January.
“Having trained a lot of these guys and girls from a young age, it’s been fun to see them grow up and enjoy all of their success,” she said. “I’m excited to be coaching them again and look forward to a great year.”
Brookwood School
Located in Thomasville, GA, Brookwood School is a private school for grades JK-12. Students benefit from a challenging academic program, fine and performing arts, competitive athletics, and a wide selection of extracurricular activities.