GIRLS' TENNIS: Bowen-Roux clinch match point for EW

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on September 14, 2016 9:57 AM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

Move your feet.

Attack the first ball.

Bella Bowen followed her coach's advice and lifted Eastern Wayne to its most important victory of the season -- a 5-4 conquest of county and Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference rival Charles B. Aycock on Tuesday afternoon.

The Warriors (4-3 overall, 4-1 ECC) slipped into the driver's seat for the league's lone spot in the dual-team playoffs, which begin in October.

"This is a good win today and I'm proud of everyone," Bowen said.

The teams concluded singles play deadlocked at 3-3.

Eastern Wayne's top-seeded tandem of Elizabeth Sutton-Emily Uzzell easily handed Aycock's duo of Haley Creech-Hannah Tyndall 8-0. But the Golden Falcons' second-seeded doubles of Grayson Lane-Lexi Reeves rolled to an 8-1 decision, which knotted the overall match score at 8-1.

Fans gathered their lawn chairs, searched for shady spots and focused their attention on No. 3 doubles -- Bowen-Samantha Roux vs. Shackleford-Sophia Gumbish. The match was tied at 2-2 until Aycock double-faulted on game on point to put the Warriors up front 3-2 on the changeover.

EW head coach Craig Hassell called his two players to the fence and stressed the importance of controlling the net play. Bowen handled the responsibility with a calm demeanor and constantly put away shots that either came directly toward her or were close to the center line.

Bowen effectively used the angles and found the open space against Strickland-Gumbish, who were caught out of position on several occasions. The Warriors reeled off five consecutive games until Aycock broke EW's serve at 7-3.

"I like to keep moving (at the net)," Bowen said. "If I see one coming, I hit it, so yeah, I was anticipating something always coming toward me. I was proud of her (Roux). We kept it up and won."

The players battled through four deuce points before Bowen iced the match with a short volley that Gumbish, who played too far back on the baseline, couldn't track down.

Bowen, Roux and top-seeded Elizabeth Sutton each collected a singles point for the Warriors. Sutton returned after an absence due to a right-shoulder injury.

"I thought this was a hard-fought mach," EW head coach Craig Hassell said. "We competed well in singles and have continued to improve in doubles. Aycock is a strong team and it will be even tougher going there at the end of the season. We have to grow fundamentally with our stroke technique and mentality in each match to be successful down the stretch."

Aycock (5-5, 2-4) received singles points from Lane, Reeves and Tyndall.

"Our girls are still struggling with inexperience and (they) improve with each and every match," Golden Falcons head coach Gene Stancil said. "It's an uphill battle, but they are giving it their all. Very well-played matches today from the girls on both teams."