Aycock dominates Hunt

By Rob Craig
Published in Sports on September 28, 2007 3:13 PM

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PIKEVILLE -- Charles B. Aycock is still alive in the hunt for October.

With the 2007 girl's tennis season winding down, the defending Class 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference champions are priming themselves for another dual-team playoff run.

Before the Golden Falcons can even think about the postseason, though, they first have to take care of their remaining opponents.

First up -- Wilson Hunt.

Earlier this season Aycock battled the Warriors for over three hours before finally escaping Wilson with the win. Thursday night was another marathon, only things weren't as close this time.

The Golden Falcons (11-5 overall, 7-1 ECC) dominated from start to finish with a 7-2 victory. The win keeps Aycock on the heels of league-leading Eastern Wayne. The teams meet next Tuesday afternoon.

"It was a must win as far as looking at it from the standpoint of trying to qualify for the playoffs," said Aycock coach Luke Vail. "You feel like at this point, you are a least in the driver's seat for one of the two playoff spots and it keeps us in the hunt for Tuesday."

Against Hunt, the Golden Falcons executed their serves, volleys and scoring shots to near perfection while keeping unforced errors down to a minimum.

"At this point in the season, it's important that you play well because you won't have more than one chance during the playoffs," said Vail. "Fundamentally we want to be sound. We want to have a good game plan and execute. Today, that's what I saw. I thought the girls played very well top to bottom."

Seeds one through five were all victorious in singles play for Aycock. Kristen Prosser, Courtney Barnes, Emilee Quinn, Kristen Bennett and Jessica Davis all posted wins.

The top-seeded Prosser need a little less than an hour to dispatch Keionna Love 6-1, 6-0. Prosser consistently hit strong shots with both her forehand and back hand. When she approached the net, Prosser sent down winners.

"Kristen played one of her finest singles matches of the year," said Vail.

Second-seeded Barnes had a tougher time after going ahead 6-1 following the first set against Mary Hardison. Barnes fell behind 3-2 in the second and adjusted her strategy, angling shots away from her opponent in an attempt to tire her out.

Barnes eventually prevailed 6-1, 6-3.

"Courtney played an exceptionally good first set," said Vail. "Then she did a really good job of turning those last four games around when she was behind 3-2."

In doubles, the tandems of Barnes-Quinn and Prosser-Bennett won their respective matches.

"Both teams were really sharp," said Vail. "We worked yesterday at doing a better job at our net game. I thought today our serves and net game were much better and that was the difference."

Following the matches, there was plenty of conversing over the day's matches, the past and the future. The match against Hunt marked the final time in regular season play that Aycock and its senior class of Prosser, Barnes, Quinn, Bennett, Davis, Mallory Strickland and Lauren Pierce would take the home court.

"They've meant a lot to our tennis program," said Vail. "This is one of the best groups I've ever coached in terms of a good attitude and work ethic on the court. We'll miss them here at C.B. Aycock."

C.B. Aycock 7

Wilson Hunt 2

Singles: No. 1 Kristen Prosser (CBA) d. Keionna Love 6-1, 6-0; No. 2 Courtney Barnes (CBA) d. Mary Hardison 6-1, 6-3; No. 3 Emilee Quinn (CBA) d. Abby Earle 6-2, 6-3; No. 4 Kristen Bennett (CBA) d. Madison Cauley 6-1, 6-3; No. 5 Jessica Davis (CBA) d. Jordan Winslow 6-1, 6-1; No. 6 Paige Tyson (H) d. Mallory Strickland 6-0, 7-5.

Doubles: No. 1 Barnes-Quinn (CBA) d. Love-Hardison 8-2; No. 2 Prosser-Bennett (CBA) d. Earle-Cauley 8-4; No. 3 Winslow-Tyson (H) d. Davis-Lauren Pierce 8-6.

Records: C.B. Aycock 11-5 (7-1); Wilson Hunt 8-6 (4-4).