NATCHEZ — Trinity Episcopal’s Allie Smith and Lucy Pyron admitted they were both anxious when they stepped onto the biggest tennis stage of their lives earlier this month.

Smith and Pyron had combined for just one year of varsity tennis experience coming into the 2012 season, but by the end of the year they had made their way into the state championship tournament facing girls as much as five years older than them.

“It was kind of scary at first,” Smith said about facing their first-round opponents. “We were young compared to everybody else.”

The two seventh graders teamed up to form Trinity’s No. 2 girls’ doubles team this year and quickly jelled to become a bright spot for the Trinity tennis team.

“These girls really surprised a lot of people with how much they improved,” Trinity tennis coach Cheryl Givens said.

This year was Pyron’s first as a high school tennis player, and she said making it to state was a great experience that will help her down the road.

“It was fun to play in (the state tournament),” she said. “I wish we would have won, but I learned to practice more and get better just like them.”

Pyron comes from a tennis-playing family, she said. Her father, Derek Pyron, was on Trinity’s state championship team in the early 90s and her grandmother, Noreen Pyron, was one of the coaches. Naturally she took to tennis right away.

“I loved it a lot,” she said. “It’s really fun. A lot of people in my family play.”

Givens said the Trinity girls’ team featured just three seniors this season, and young players like Pyron and Smith give the Lady Saints a bright future.

“It’s very nice (to have them coming back),” Givens said. “We should have a really good girls team in a few years. We have a lot more interested once they realized you don’t have to be in high school.”

Trinity seniors Allie Booth and Abbey Ashmore also made the state tournament as a doubles team, and Pyron said the two seniors provided Smith and her with some leadership at the tournament.

Givens said Ashmore and Booth went to state as eighth graders at Huntington and had experience to share with the younger girls.

Both Smith and Pyron said they are not satisfied with their early success however, and want to build on what they did as seventh graders.

“I want tow in more games and make it back to state,” Pyron said.

Smith said the two girls have already started to work for next season.

“I want to get a whole lot better,” she said. “We started practicing (last) Monday.”