Consistent, patient Voyager Academy ousts North Duplin

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on October 28, 2014 1:48 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

MOUNT OLIVE -- North Duplin ran into the best competition its seen this season on the tennis courts Monday afternoon.

Voyager Academy's patience and consistent play proved the difference.

The Vikings triumphed on five of six singles courts and handed the Rebels a season-ending, 5-1 loss in eastern semifinal-round play of the N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 1-A dual-team playoffs.

"I felt like they played well, they gave it their best ... had the best competition we've seen this season by far," first-year ND head coach Ruby Quintanilla said. "I told them to give it all they had whether that was returning a ball, whether that was a drop shot, bring them to net ... do whatever they could to get that win.

"The other team was very consistent."

Junior Julissa Quintanilla claimed the lone singles point for the Rebels, who concluded the season 11-1 overall. Quintanilla defeated the Vikings' Kinsey Blount for the second time in a four-day period.

But she had to work for this one.

Quintanilla dominated the opening set, 6-1. Blount found some consistency with her baseline game, moved Quintanilla around the court and battled to a 5-5 tie in the second set.

"They played last weekend (in the state tournament), so I knew about her (Quintanilla) and she's a great little player," said Voyager coach Kyle Thortsen, who didn't have an entire scouting report on the Rebels.

Quintanilla held serve at 6-5 and closed out the match when Kinsey hit a forehand shot two feet behind the baseline.

Voyager, the North Central Athletic Conference champion, dropped just 16 games on the other five courts. The Rebels' second-seeded Taylor Dilday endured a 6-3, 6-2 setback against freshman Morgan Blount.

North Duplin's Casey Whitted, Hannah Smith, Connor Mikitka and Briana Quintanilla also fell in straight sets.

"We had a great season," said coach Quintanilla, who guided North Duplin to its second consecutive Carolina Conference championship -- and will return the entire starting lineup for 2015.

"It says a lot about the team, their determination, their willingness to go far."