PREP GIRLS' TENNIS: Competitive Eagles upend Warriors

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on September 6, 2018 5:50 AM

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By RUDY COGGINS

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Emily Kornegay cradled a can of tennis balls under one arm as she stepped off the court Wednesday afternoon.

Sweat beaded on her forehead.

Some drops fell and got absorbed by the headband of her bright purple visor as she walked over to Rosewood head coach Daniel Baynes.

"Great job. That was one of your best matches," said Baynes, who greeted the senior with a hug.

Kornegay's 8-3 victory at No. 3 singles helped make the searing and energy-zapping heat almost bearable for the Eagles, who defeated county rival Eastern Wayne 7-2.

"I was very pleased after our win yesterday [Tuesday] against Princeton for the girls to come back and still be hungry against a tough 3-A opponent, and play very well across the board," Baynes said. "It was competitive. I'm really excited about being able to hang with a quality program, a school that's bigger than we are and more experienced in many ways than we are."

Rosewood, however, held the experience advantage.

Four upperclassmen guided the Eagles to their fourth dual-team win in 10 tries this season.

Senior Kailey Hilton cruised 8-1 at No. 1 singles.

Third-seeded Sydney Reiss, a junior who has two older brothers (Evan and Caden) at the Air Force Academy, prevailed 8-3 over the Warriors' Ava Bowen. Down 6-1, Bowen took an extended water break to combat heat exhaustion.

Junior Lexi Clucas built a 6-1 advantage against Theresa Santillana and escaped 8-6. After losing a break point, Clucas fell behind 15-30 on Santilla's serve before winning three consecutive points to close out the match.

"I was extremely proud of Theresa," EW head coach Craig Hassell said. "The number three for Rosewood, I give her a lot of credit. Ava can stay out there a long time, but [Reiss] was really good."

Rosewood sophomore Autumn Heath sealed the overall outcome with an 8-4 win at No. 6 singles.

Eastern Wayne's Amelia Dunmire triumphed 8-2 at No. 2 singles. The junior teamed with Bowen to defeat the Eagles' tandem of Reiss-Riley Maldonado 8-4 at No. 1 doubles.

The Eagles' duos of Hilton-Kornegay and Heath-Alyssa Vinyard-Lowery secured wins at Nos. 2 and 3 doubles.

"I thought maybe we'd play a little bit better, but credit Rosewood, they've got a good little squad ... some good athletes," Hassell said. "We're just trying to see the positive. It's just another one of those matches where we're trying to take some things out of it and continue to grow."

The Eagles (4-6 overall) face Franklin Academy on Sept. 10, while the Warriors (1-6) step back into Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference play today at J.H. Rose.