BOYS' TENNIS: Hare-Creel, March win ECC 3A crowns

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on April 27, 2017 10:10 AM

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PIKEVILLE -- Standing near the net, Matthew Hare waited as Charles B. Aycock teammate Jonas Creel fired a forehand return from the baseline.

Eastern Wayne's Daniel Stevens made solid contact and appeared to hit a winner down center court. Only Hare stepped to his right, intercepted the ball and dumped a short volley into the alley.

Game.

Set.

Match.

"We didn't come out and play our best...lacked a lot of intensity," Hare said of the 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 opening-round win over the Warriors' Stevens-Anass Sarah during the Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference boys' tennis tournament Wednesday afternoon.

"When your season's on the line and that doesn't get you going, nothing will. We had to do something."

Hare-Creel, who practiced together for the first time Tuesday, claimed the ECC crown and eastern regional berth with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over teammates Austin Doyle and Sam Andrews.

"I was ready to play with Jonas," said Hare, who was originally scheduled to play in the singles portion of the tournament.

"He's a good player. I knew he could get us to regionals...give us a good shot and I was happy for that. The second match we really stepped up our intensity and I think that was the major key."

Eastern Wayne's Dylan March encountered little resistance on the day. The top seed in the four-player singles draw, March started his day with a 6-0, 6-0 conquest of CBA's Keenan Smith.

Fellow Golden Falcon Nolan Casey, dubbed a "human backboard" by other coaches in the ECC, won 9 of the final 11 games against the Warriors' Ian Burchett to reach the title tilt. He attempted the same strategy against March.

But March had other ideas.

The left-hander consistently delivered low, speed-driven groundstrokes to the corners of the court. Casey chased down most the torpedo-like shots, however, the returns ended up short and March -- at the net -- terminated the points in rapid-fire fashion.

"I have an offensive game, like to make them move," said March, who won his 12th match this season. "I just came out here with a positive mind and played my hardest."

March posted an opening-set shutout and took game one in set two. Casey tied the set at 1-all. March reeled off five straight games and polished off his second straight ECC title 6-0, 6-1.

"Just try to make it to states now," said March, who lost a heart-breaking three-set match in quarterfinal-round action of the east 3-A regional a year ago.