Goldsboro stays perfect in girls' tennis

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on September 14, 2012 1:48 PM

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Consistency.

Depth.

No personal glory.

That's how Susan Randolph describes the latest edition of the Goldsboro High girls' tennis team. And she wouldn't have it any other way.

The blue-collar Cougars remained unbeaten with an 8-1 victory over Carolina 1-A Conference foe Ayden-Grifton on a pleasant Thursday afternoon at Herman Park.

"We're the working team," Randolph said. "We don't have fancy uniforms. We just go out there and get it done."

Indeed.

Playing its third match in as many days, Goldsboro (4-0 overall, 3-0 CC) started quick on some courts, and needed a couple of games to get warmed up on other courts. Third-seeded Cassidy Morris minimized her unforced errors and turned back the Chargers' Eva Mewborn 2-6, 6-3, 12-10.

"Cassidy gave a really good effort," Randolph said.

Morris' teammates combined to lose just 13 games on the remaining five singles courts. Fifth-seeded Sidney Cox didn't lose a game on serve in a 6-0, 6-0 conquest of A-G's Diane Garcia.

Top-seeded Jessica Calvert rolled to a 6-1, 6-1 decision over the Chargers' Cindy Avalos, while fourth-seeded Davis Houtzer posted the same result. Second-seeded Randa Boykin and sixth-seeded Cayce Hoggard each claimed a straight-set victory at the No. 2 and 6 slots, respectively.

"Randa really came through with a strong win after two losses this week," said Randolph.

The Cougars took two of three doubles matches. The No. 2 tandem of Boykin-Hoggard rallied from a four-game deficit to defeat the Chargers' Mewborn-Garcia 8-4. The third-seeded duo of Houtzer-Cox easily dispatched Aleiyah Haygood-Krissy Miller 8-1.

Ayden-Grifton won No. 1 doubles.

"In doubles, we have some talent across the board and we are trying to bring that together to be effective," Randolph said. "Our younger players are really stepping up right now. I tell the girls all the time it's not about what happens on courts one and two, but what happens on all six courts. They realize that and constantly support each other on the court.

"I'm really proud of the closeness that they have right now."

Goldsboro gets a much-needed four-day break before concluding first-half conference play at winless Rosewood next Tuesday.

The Cougars edged North Duplin, 5-4, on Wednesday in the completion of a suspended match. Just 24 hours earlier, Randolph's team upended defending league champ Spring Creek.

"It's been a long week for us," Randolph said. "I could see it tonight, the tiredness from three matches in a row. We pressed past that and played hard today. We swept the singles and that's a first for us (this season).

"It was really great for us to do that."