RALEIGH -- East Chapel Hill tennis coach Lindsey Linker knew it was possible. She just had hoped her Wildcats' elimination from the state dual-team tennis tournament might come later instead of sooner. Broughton finished the Wildcats' team season Monday afternoon with a 5-3 victory in the second round of the N.
C. High School Athletic Association 4-A dual-team tournament. East Chapel Hill (17-3 this season) spent most of the semester as No.
2 in the first polls of the fledgling N.C. Tennis Coaches Association, behind or tied with Greensboro Page and/or Broughton -- the only teams to beat the Wildcats this year.
But the NCHSAA doesn't seed its tennis tournament except for preordained conference matchups. How a team does in the regular season affects only its place within the conference, not how that conference will be paired with another. "They could do a better job of putting the best teams in opposite ends of the bracket," Broughton coach Steve Spivey said.
"...
I don't think they give any consideration to strength." East Chapel Hill fell to Broughton (15-0) and Page (16-0) during the regular season only after the match went to the last doubles contest. Monday was headed the same way.
Down 4-2 after singles, East's No. 3 doubles team of Tamara Hill and Megan Huang defeated Ali Carlino and Catie Walters 10-1, bringing the Wildcats within 4-3. And ECH's No.
2 team of Jennifer Huang and Toni Wei led Hannah Waddell and Katie Plott when play ceased with the team outcome determined. Broughton's Marianne Simpson and Martha Williams, still fresh from winnings last weekend's Mideast Regional individual championship, bested Sam Stamler and Tess Darling 10-1 on Court No. 1 to cement the team result.
Linker could see it coming after Simpson, who had lost to East's Jennifer Huang in the season's first meeting, bested Huang 6-4, 6-3 in Monday's No. 1 singles match. When they met the first time, the teams were split 3-3 after singles, and Broughton's 4-2 lead Monday mean East would have to sweep doubles to prevail.
East lost to Broughton in last year's state quarterfinals. The Wildcats have never before exited a tennis tournament so early, and Linker, who has long advocated a seeded tournament for the prep playoffs, was dismayed. "We're just disappointed that this happened this round," she said.
East had some slightly better news in last weekend's individual tournament. In doubles, Jennifer Huang and Toni Wei got as far as Saturday's semifinals before losing to Broughton's Simpson and Williams, 6-4, 7-5, and that was far enough to qualify for this weekend's championships back at Millbrook Exchange Park. Huang and Wei will play at 10 a.
m. Friday against an as-yet undetermined opponent. If they win that and the afternoon's second match, they will advance to Saturday's state semifinals at 9 a.
m. The championship finals follow shortly thereafter. East's other doubles team, Megan Huang and Tamara Hill were bounced out in last Friday's first round, as were East's top singles entries, Stamler and Darling.
Simpson and Williams also eliminated Chapel Hill High School's doubles entry of Caitlin Styres and Keri McLaughlin. The Tigers top singles player, Tori Helpingstine made the second round of singles before bowing out. No one was happier this week than the field hockey players of Chapel Hill High School.
After starting the season 2-5, the Tigers have won five of their last six matches and are headed to the East Region championship. The East championship match between CHHS (12-8) and East Chapel Hill (12-2) is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
Friday at UNC's Francis Henry Stadium. CHHS made it to the regional by beating Jordan 5-1 Monday. Coming on the heels of a 2-1 split in a series of non-conference games in Charlotte over the weekend, Monday's win kept CHHS undefeated against every public school in the state -- except East Chapel Hill.
The Wildcats have defeated CHHS three times so far this year, twice by 2-0 shutouts in the regular season and on penalty strokes after a 1-1 tie in the Sun Devil Tournament in Virginia. East Chapel Hill has a final regular-season match with Riverside today, but has locked up its spot in the regional by its undefeated record against every N.C.
public school this year. After getting eliminated in last year's post-season playoffs by unheralded Green Hope, coach Sherry Norris and her volleyball team were not about to underestimate anybody in this year's NCHSAA tournament. That was bad news for Pinecrest.
Chapel Hill rolled over Pinecrest 25-21, 25-20, 25-14 last Saturday to advance to Tuesday's second round. Chapel Hill, 22-2 overall, was scheduled to play at Southeast Raleigh, 18-3 and the No. 1 seed of the Greater Neuse Conference.
(Tuesday's match started after deadlines for The Chapel Hill News. See today's News Observer for results and Sunday's Chapel Hill News for more details.) Lizzy Bruin led CHHS against Pinecrest with 17 kills and three blocks.
Rachel Devon added 16 assists and Sam Cook 10 assists. Kirby Winters had seven kills, five blocks and five assists. Kylie Gilmore had seven passes and nine assists.
Lauren Elmore made nine kills to go with her three aces and seven passes. Nicole Boyle, Kelly Derby, Amanda Martin had at least one kill, while Leah Chandler, Erin Heffelfinger and Ellen Porter made at least one pass or assist. All rights reserved.
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