Aycock stays unbeaten in ECC 3A-4A tennis

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on September 5, 2014 1:49 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

State-ranked Charles B. Aycock anticipated the "backboard mentality" strategy when it stepped onto the court against tennis archrival Eastern Wayne on a steamy Thursday afternoon.

Unlike their previous meetings, the Golden Falcons worked to end the point quickly and conserve energy after they claimed a grinding, one-point victory over Wilson Fike just 24 hours earlier.

The counter plan paid off.

Aycock (8-0 overall) triumphed 8-1 and concluded first-half play on the Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference scene with a clean worksheet (6-0).

"I thought we played much better today than we have played the rest of the week," CBA head coach Summer Pennington said. "They played smart tennis and took advantage of their opponent's weakness, exploited that instead of hitting the ball back which helped them win points much quicker."

The Warriors, who have six sophomores and only one returning starter in the lineup, couldn't match either the Golden Falcons' experience or close out a set. Brennan Dove, the lone returnee, earned Eastern Wayne's lone point with a 6-4, 6-3 decision over Cassidy Coerver at No. 2 singles.

Eastern Wayne lost a late first-set advantage at No. 6 singles. The Golden Falcons' Emmie Collins erased a 5-4 deficit to turn back Samantha Roux 7-5, 6-2.

The top-seeded duo of Dove-Elizabeth Sutton built a 5-2 advantage at No. 1 doubles. But Aycock's tandem of Ashton Walker-Kassidy Pitchford bounced back to win 8-6. Teammates Meredith Jones and Haley Creech slipped past the Warriors' Kathyrn Harrison-Roux 8-6 after falling behind 5-4 at No. 3 doubles.

"That's probably the best doubles we have played all year," Warriors head coach Craig Hassell said. "We can't finish and that's due to lack of experience. I saw some bright points today that we can build on."

Aycock's No. 2 doubles of Casie Belom-Coerver prevailed 8-0.

Walker stayed unbeaten at No. 1 singles with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Sutton. Belom lost just two games at No. 3 singles, while Pitchford and fifth-seeded Sabrina Johnson each posted a straight-set shutout.

"Down at the bottom, I thought my number five and six girls Sabrina and Emmie played pretty well, especially Emmie, whose opponent was a really good number six player," Pennington said. "Emmie played like a whole different person today after playing sluggish and not feeling so great yesterday."