Eastern Wayne puts finishing touches on ECC tennis crown

By Staff Reports
Published in Sports on October 3, 2012 1:49 PM

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The title run is complete.

The Eastern Wayne women's tennis team put the finishing touches on its first Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference regular-season dual-team championship since 2010 with a 7-2 triumph over Triton on Tuesday afternoon.

The Warriors have won five of the last six ECC crowns.

"Our team has gradually improved as the season has progressed and today's performance was icing on the cake," Eastern Wayne head coach Craig Hassell said.

Eastern Wayne played without third-seeded Blake Govan, who missed the senior day match with an injury. Teammates Savannah Sutton, Faith Sutton, Grace Delbridge, McKenna Dove and Cameron Dove each posted a straight-set singles win.

"We played well in singles to get five wins today and I was proud of how Grace edged out her opponent at number three singles," Hassell said. "The Dove sisters continue to do well in singles. Savannah and Faith played well in singles."

Delbridge-Brittney Brinson and the Dove siblings each collected a doubles point. The Sutton duo, playing at the No. 1 slot, lost a nail-biting 9-8 decision to the Hawks' Jennifer Byrd-Cailin Goff. Byrd-Goff won the tiebreaker 15-13.

"A great high school match with both teams having multiple match points," Hassell said. "It was a match that could have gone either way."

The Warriors conclude regular-season play Thursday at North Lenoir, and will participate in the season-ending ECC tournament scheduled for next Wednesday and Thursday at Herman Park.