Unbeaten, experienced Eagles shut out Gators

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on April 2, 2010 1:46 PM

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Youth.

Experience.

Depth.

And perfect, so far.

Rosewood remained unbeaten on the men's tennis scene with a 9-0 decision over county and Carolina 1-A Conference rival Spring Creek on Thursday afternoon.

The Eagles, who return five starters and have no seniors on the roster, improved to 7-0 overall and 2-0 against league opposition. The Gators, directed by first-year head coach Brandon Proctor, exited with an 0-2 worksheet.

"A day like today, the competition is not what it has been ... a tough day that you kind of have to get through it, guard against not going backwards," said veteran Rosewood coach Bert Perkins. "The guys seemed to be pretty focused throughout the match."

Sophomores Cole Radcliff, Travis Cuddington, Matt Binda and Daniel Elowar each posted a straight-set victory in their respective matches. Junior Antonio Henriques and junior Zach Behrend combined to lose just one game at Nos. 4 and 5 singles.

Binda-Henriques, Behrend-Elowar and Fuwad Ismael-Jemez Henriques each triumphed in doubles action.

Cuddington is the lone newcomer to the Eagles' lineup.

"I was confident we would have a good team," said veteran Rosewood coach Bert Perkins. "Having five of the six from last year and watching them improve, seeing the progress and potential ... it looks pretty good.

"We are stronger than we were last year and I feel pretty confident we can be up to the challenge to winning the conference championship."

Meanwhile, Spring Creek (0-2 CC) returns just one starter -- junior Kent Jernigan -- off last year's team. Three freshmen and two seniors complete the lineup.

"I saw a very good team and a team still struggling, learning a little bit and getting better," said Proctor. "Nobody quit and kept playing. The outcomes weren't really good, but they kept playing hard in the heat and certainly got better today."