Strickland: NCTA state finals a bigger success than 2013

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on October 13, 2014 1:49 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

Sherry Strickland felt bored.

She was relaxed, too.

One year ago, Strickland and numerous volunteers spent much of the weekend removing water from rain-soaked courts during the North Carolina Singles League State Championships. She had to re-do schedules, find which courts were open and make sure the three-day, multi-team tournament was completed by Sunday.

That didn't happen this past weekend.

"We sure did have a great weekend to play tennis, much much better than last year so I really can't complain one bit," said Strickland, who admitted the only "excitement" was replacing net straps that broke on a couple of courts.

"Everything was very relaxed and easy compared to last year. I was so excited to see the beautiful courts at Herman Park that I wanted to grab my racquet and play, too."

The three-day event brought in more than 450 competitors from 14 regions throughout North Carolina who competed for state championships in 16 age/player level divisions. The Capital Area walked away with seven state crowns, followed by the Metro Area with three.

Overall, six regions had state champions.

The Neuse River League had teams battle in six divisions. The men's 40-plus 3.5 team and Capital Area posted an identical mark (4-1) in division play, but Cap Area had one more individual victory, according to criteria used to determine the champion.

The men's 40-plus 4.5 squad finished 1-3 in a best-of-five battle against Cap Area. Cap Area won two of three matches on Saturday, and wrapped up the title Sunday morning at Greene Ridge CC in Snow Hill.

"It was tight all the way through," Goldsboro's John Collins said of play on Saturday.

The tournament helped boost Goldsboro's economy for the second straight year with multi-day hotel stays and restaurant visits. Plus, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) awarded the town grant money to further renovate courts since Goldsboro will host the 2015 and 2016 state championships.

"The Goldsboro Parks and Rec, the city's travel and tourism bureau and the Goldsboro Tennis Association was a collabrative effort between the groups who worked together to do what needed to be done to have a successful event," Strickland said.

R.A. Jeffreys served as the main sponsor.