GIRLS' TENNIS: Chatham Central ousts Rosewood from 1A dual-team playoffs

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on November 2, 2016 9:57 AM

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Chatham Central carried a confident swagger onto the Rosewood courts Tuesday afternoon and immediately seized control in every singles match.

In fact, the Bears imposed their will on the Eagles, who had lost their rhythm due to lack of practice time and numerous canceled matches -- even the season-ending Carolina 1-A Conference tournament -- associated with Hurricane Matthew.

Even RHS head coach Alan Cuddington knew his team had a tough chore ahead of it against a experienced and quality opponent.

"It's a team like I would like to have the opportunity to coach," Cuddington said after a 6-0, second-round loss in the N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 1-A dual-team girls' tennis playoffs.

"I never saw one power person on the team, but you could tell they had drilled and been taught to keep the ball in play with you long enough until you made a mistake. They had a bunch of consistent players ... a really solid team."

Chatham Central surrendered just six games on the day.

Second-seeded Laura Lintner of Rosewood picked up two games against junior Lindsey Batten during their No. 2 singles flight match.

Fellow Eagles Faith Sutton, Victoria Hill, Kiandra Taylor and Kaley Hinton each won a game in either the first or second set of their respective outing.

Rosewood, the two-time defending Carolina 1-A Conference champion, lost three seniors -- third-seeded Kennedy Behrend, fourth-seeded Victoria Hill and seventh-seeded Leah Duran.

Cuddington expects to return eight players next season.

"We were just happy that we got this far," said Cuddington, whose team logged a 5-3-1 worksheet this season.

"We've got a really good group of young freshmen and sophomores who have been training outside the team. I think they will be very good for us in the future. It was a good year for us."

Chatham Central handed Rosewood its fifth consecutive defeat in postseason play. The Eagles' last playoff victory, according to Association records, occurred in 2005 -- a 5-0 opening-round triumph over Southeast Halifax. Led by then-head coach Debbie Bailey, RHS won the Carolina regular-season and conference tournament crowns that season.