Twice, St. Aloysius has had to go to Greenville to beat Greenville-St. Joe in tennis.

Today, they will make a third trip to the Cypress Hills Tennis Courts in Greenville, but this time, a berth in next week’s Class 1A State team championship is at stake.

St. Aloysius (10-2) was moved out of the south and into the north half for tennis by the Mississippi High School Activities Association. The move has given Rick Shields’ Flashes a good shot at reaching the team finals. Sacred Heart, the defending champs, will await the north half winner for the state title next week at Millsaps College.

In an earlier team match last month, St. Al defeated Greenville-St. Joe 6-1. Ten days ago, they went back to Greenville to play the individual draw tournament. Shields was hoping to get Wednesday’s north half team final played at the Halls Ferry Courts in Vicksburg but was unsuccessful.

“They are using the rule that the team that has hosted the least amount of playoff matches gets to host the next round,” Shields said.

St. Al’s first-round match with Wheeler resulted in a walkover when Wheeler decided to not to come to Vicksburg and forfeited the match. Greenville-St. Joe defeated Tupelo Christian in Tupelo last week.

Shields expects a tough time with the Irish.

“When we won 6-1, a good number of the matches were close,” Shields said. “I just want us to get my four (match points) and walk out the door.

“They have a good, young team. I just think we should handle them.”

The strength for St. Al is balance between the boys and girls. Austin Mathis has enjoyed a dominant season in singles. The same story holds for the No. 1 boys’ doubles team of Michael Foley and Steven Cialone. The pair won the Class 1A draw last year at Ridgeland.

Shields has been able to rotate veteran player Ashley Piazza with two promising youngsters, Allie Falls and Kori Vessell, along with seasoned doubles player Jean Marie Mabry. Mabry won a 1A girls’ doubles title in 2010 with Breanna Beesley.

“I have a lot of options with the girls,” Shields said. “Ashley’s played a lot of singles this year, but I’ll probably have her and Jean Marie play No. 1 doubles. That’ll leave Kori playing singles and Allie at No. 2 doubles.”

Piazza doesn’t mind where she plays.

“We have some good young players, like Allie and Kori, who’ve played singles,” Piazza said. “Because the team match was a lot closer than it sounds, we need to be at our best.”

The Flashes also have a good team in mixed doubles with Lexa Baldizon and Aaron Mathis. The team is rounded out by the No. 2 boys doubles team of Carlton Campbell and Patrick Coccaro.