East tennis regional

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on May 12, 2008 1:48 PM

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From staff reports

WILSON -- Two-for-two.

Charles B. Aycock sophomore Blake Vail successfully defended his Class 3-A eastern regional singles championship with a 6-0, 6-1 decision over Eastern Wayne's Drew Jackson on Saturday.

Vail (29-0 overall) advanced to the title match with a 6-0, 6-1 decision over Beddingfield's Martin Wdowiak, an exchange student from Argentina. Jackson rebounded from opening-set loss to defeat Southern Nash's Michael Barnes 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (1).

Jackson and Vail earned berths in the N.C. High School Athletic Association Individual Championships, which begin Friday morning in Burlington.

Aycock will also take two doubles teams to the state finals.

Addison Westbrook-Blake Cooper, the Eastern Carolina Conference champions, lost their semifinal-round match to Rocky Mount's Alex Durham-Travis Kirkpatrick. Westbrook-Cooper defeated teammates Ben Evans-Dylan Quinn 7-5, 7-5 for third place.

Southern's Nicolas Finet-Kyle Ramsey knocked off Evans-Quinn in the semifinals, but lost to Durham-Kirkpatrick in the title contest.

1-A East Regional

Spring Creek's unseeded doubles Daniel Richter-Colby Strickland extended their tennis season for one more week after a great run through the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1-A eastern regional.

Richter-Strickland compiled a 3-1 record during the two-day tournament at Herman Park. The duo lost to Topsail's Josh Grant-Conor Hughes 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday. They bounced back with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over East Bladen's Will Inscoe-Sheldon Miller in the third-place match.

Richter-Strickland return to action Friday in Cary.