GIRLS' TENNIS: CBA nets non-conference win over Rosewood

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on September 8, 2016 9:57 AM

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PIKEVILLE -- Charles B. Aycock needed a confidence boost.

Rosewood needed a non-conference test.

The county rivals got what they wanted Wednesday afternoon.

Freshman Abbie Shackleford earned the match-clinching point with a 6-4, 6-2 triumph over Kaley Hilton at the No. 6 singles flight, and the Golden Falcons cruised to a 9-0 win on the Luke Vail Tennis Courts.

"That was a good win for us. We needed that," said CBA head coach Gene Stancil, whose team dropped a 6-3 decision at Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference foe New Bern on Tuesday.

"We were not on our game at all yesterday. We should have walked away with a win. We gave it away in tiebreakers ... nerves took over because they don't have the confidence."

CBA didn't display any shakiness this time.

Except third-seeded Grayson Lane. The junior sprayed unforced errors around the court and fell behind 5-0 against the Eagles' Kennedy Behrend. Stancil felt like an omen each time he walked down to view her match, so he left the courts and headed to check on his lower-seeded players.

Then Lane began her comeback.

She tied the set at 5-all and 6-all to force a tiebreaker. Lane won 7-4 and rolled to a 6-1 second-set win, which completed the Golden Falcons' shutout bid in singles.

"She got her wheels back on," Stancil said of Lane.

Second-seeded Meredith Jones didn't drop serve in a 6-0, 6-0 decision at No. 2 singles. Fourth-seeded Lexi Reeves lost just one game. Top-seeded Haley Creech played numerous deuce points before putting away Faith Baker 6-2, 6-1.

Lexi Reeves and Hannah Tyndall also triumphed in singles.

Aycock (4-4 overall) continued its dominance in doubles play. The tandems of Creech-Tyndall, Jones-Reeves and Lane-Michaela Boyd each emerged victorious.

"We played somebody a lot better than us today and it's experience we need because they are a strong team that is better than any team we play in our conference," RHS head coach Alan Cuddington said. "They have a very good team and I've coached some of those Aycock girls. It was my home for 14 years.

"I was real pleased with how we did today. It was better than I expected."