Rosewood, Spring Creek stage battle on tennis courts
By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on September 26, 2014 1:48 PM
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rcoggins@newsargus.com
Spring Creek made Rosewood work for every point Thursday afternoon.
And the Eagles survived ... barely.
Tiebreakers factored into three outcomes during Rosewood's nail-biting 5-4 victory as an overcast sky gave way to darkness on the Carolina 1-A Conference girls' tennis scene. The completion of the suspended match forced the teams to cancel their second match scheduled.
A make-up date has not been announced.
"This is a good conference," RHS head coach Alan Cuddington said. "Everyone of these matches goes down to the wire. With this kind of youth and kind of talent that every team has in this conference, I think we are going to be very strong in the future."
Rosewood (5-3 overall, 4-2 CC) secured four singles points.
Second-seeded Faith Baker and third-seeded Kennedy Behrend each handed their respective opponent an 8-0 defeat. Fifth-seeded Laura Lintner eased past Stormy Westbrook, 8-5. Fourth-seeded Keelin Hunter let a 7-4 lead slip away before turning back Cassie Alphin 9-8 (8).
The Gators (1-4, 1-4) received singles wins from top-seeded Grace West and sixth-seeded McKylia Williams, who rallied past Bethanie Kirby 9-8 (3). West drew a walkover after the Eagles' Shayla Marak suffered a strained ligament in her left foot in a previous match.
The junior, who is expected to miss two weeks, sat on the bleachers with crutches beside her.
"She is bummed about it because she really wanted to play," RHS assistant coach Melanie Kirby said. "She is a competitor."
As Hunter and Williams wrapped up their singles matches, the Eagles' tandem of Baker-Behrend and the Gators' duo of West-Magen Jones headed back onto the courts. Nine games later, Baker-Behrend prevailed 8-1 and secured the overall outcome for the Eagles.
Spring Creek's Coates-Alphin and Westbrook-Williams each triumphed in doubles play. Coates-Alphin won 9-8 (3).
"I think the girls did really well today, especially the last match where the girls were behind, but didn't quit," first-year SC head coach Donna Haggerty said of Coates and Alphin.
"They kept fighting, playing for every point. I thought Rosewood was very consistent ... have to fight for every point with them. I'm proud of my girls."