Roanoke Rapids Women's Tennis
The RRHS ladies’ tennis team took the trip to beautiful Milbrook Exchange Tennis Park in Raleigh Monday for the Northern Carolina 2-A Conference tennis tournament. The Lady Jackets were represented by two singles players and two doubles teams. By the end of the day’s play, one of the doubles teams came out victorious, qualifying for the regionals tournament in Clinton, NC, on October 17 and 18.
The day started off with RRHS’s Joan Navarro facing off against one of the tournament’s highest seeds, Rebecca Liu from the North Carolina School of Science and Math. Navarro was eliminated from tournament play, dropping the match 0-6, 0-6.
Mary Carlson, RRHS’s #5 seed during the regular season, was paired up with South Granville’s #2 seed Sarah Campbell. Campbell defeated Carlson 1-6, 3-6, although Carlson put up a good fight, actually having the lead early in the second set.
The doubles teams from Roanoke Rapids faired a little better in the tourney. The regular season #2 pair of Emily Burnette and Mary Alice Clements started their day by defeating Nancy Contreras and Madison Whitby of Bunn 7-5, 6-2. This win advanced the ladies to the second round of the tournament where they were paired up against the #1 seed in the doubles tournament, Lydia and Sarah Yuan from the Durham School of Science and Math. Burnette and Clements dropped this match 0-6, 0-6, moving them to the loser’s bracket in the tournament. Here they were matched up against the duo of Emma Brown and Temple Walston from Durham School of the Arts. Burnette and Clements jumped on the DSA pair early, winning the first set 6-2. The Lady Jacket pair jumped out to an early lead in the second set but the DSA duo scratched their way back to win the second set 4-6. With the match tied one set to one set, the ladies went to a 10-point tiebreaker. The tiebreaker went back and forth, but the team from DSA would eventually come out on top 5-10, bringing an end to the season for Burnette and Clements.
The #1 pair from RRHS of Jenny Sheley and Addie Nixon started their day off against Sage Moore and Emily Kwiatkowski from Bunn. Sheley and Nixon would have little problem with their first opponents, winning 6-1, 6-0. This win moved them to the second round where they were paired up against Rachel Huang and Stacy Powell from the Durham School of the Arts. Sheley and Nixon would fall to the DSA pair in a tightly contested battle, 1-6, 5-7, dropping the Jacket netters to the loser’s bracket.
In the loser’s bracket, Sheley and Nixon were matched up against Yvonne Stills and Natalie Russell of South Granville. Seemingly still reeling from the loss in the second round, the Jackets pair fell behind quickly. They seemed to start regaining their composure about halfway through the first set, but still lost, 4-6. It was evident that they were back in the second set, though, dropping the South Granville team 6-0, moving the two teams into a 10-point tiebreaker. With their legs now firmly under them, the Lady Jackets duo jumped on Stills and Russell quickly, winning the tiebreaker 10-6. This win placed Sheley and Nixon into the sixth and final doubles seed for the Northern Carolina 2-A conference in the region. They will be representing the conference and RRHS on Friday, October 17 and 18 in Clinton, NC.