Warriors, Golden Falcons taking players to east 3A tennis regional

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on April 27, 2016 1:49 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

PIKEVILLE -- Eastern Wayne's Ian Burchett mumbled to himself and threw his racquet onto the court after hitting a short volley into the net Tuesday afternoon.

His head coach Craig Hassell issued a warning and called the frustrated sophomore to the fence during a changeover in semifinal-round play of the Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference singles tennis tournament.

No one could hear the conversation.

But Burchett regained his composure and showed patience in a come-from-behind 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory over pesky Nolan Casey of Charles B. Aycock. The victory vaulted Burchett into next week's eastern regional at Barton College in Wilson.

He'll be joined by teammates Dylan March and the No. 1 doubles of Ethan Quinn-Le Solomon. March emerged as the ECC singles champ with a straight-set decision over Burchett.

Quinn-Solomon claimed the ECC doubles crown with a 6-1, 6-1 conquest of CBA's tandem of Matthew Hare-Nick Coston. Hare-Coston also qualified for the east regional.

"Burchett played an incredible match today against a very resilient Casey," Hassell said. "Both players were backboards in a match that could have gone either way. March now looks to take his freshman talents to the regional level.

"Quinn-Solomon beat a talented team in the doubles final."

March eliminated the Golden Falcons' Jonas Creel in the semifinals. Casey, who battled an illness last week, worked to stay hydrated against a persistent Burchett.

The duo of Sam Andrews-Austin Doyle fell to Quinn-Solomon in semifinal-round play.

"(We) had a great tournament today," Aycock head coach RJ Allen said. "(I'm) proud of my young team that went out and battled hard. Nolan did a great job and it was great to see Nick -- our only senior -- go to regionals this year with junior Matthew Hare.

"I'm really proud of all of the teams at the tournament and how they played with dignity and great sportsmanship."

Southern Wayne's Christian Chase and Tyler Isley each dropped their respective quarterfinal-round match in singles. The doubles of Logan Robinson-Pedro Gomez and Edwin Tamayo-Anthony Best each endured an opening-round loss.

Eastern Wayne returns home next Tuesday for a match against White Oak in first-round action of the N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 3-A dual-team playoffs. First serve is 4 p.m.