Tennis makes it 13 straight over

Published 9:43 am Thursday, September 13, 2018

Davie’s tennis team outscored West Forsyth 86-22 from 2012-17, and things didn’t change much against the visiting Titans on Sept. 6.

The War Eagles didn’t have any trouble starting 1-0 in the Central Piedmont Conference, winning 7-2 over West (2-2 overall).

“They had a 5-4 loss to Tabor, and Tabor is usually pretty solid,” coach Collin Ferebee said. “So I expected them to have some players.”

No. 1 Laura Becker (6-0, 6-0), No. 2 Sierra Foster (6-0, 6-2) and No. 3 Amanda Ngo (6-0, 6-2) played to their standards. They are a combined 14-0 on the season.

No. 4 Emery Rosenbaum (6-3, 5-7, 10-4) and No. 5 Aisulu Ball (6-2, 4-6, 10-5) won in dramatic fashion. Rosenbaum found a second wind in the tiebreaker, exploding in front 5-1 and coasting home.

“I know the heat was bothering her a little bit, but she kept fighting through it,” Ferebee said. “I knew she wasn’t going to give up. I was proud of her.”

Ball appeared to be cooked when the Titan jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the tiebreaker. All Ball did was respond with nine unanswered points.

“She’s had three tiebreakers this year for the match,” he said. “She lost the first two. I was talking to her parents and they were like: ‘She’s going to break the trend today.’ And she did.”

No. 6 Ava Montebello showed a lot of guts in a 1-6, 6-2 (6-10) loss. It was the sophomore’s first defeat in four matches.

“Ava played super well,” he said. “The girl she was playing was very strong for a No. 6. I was proud of how much she came out swinging.”

Becker/Rosenbaum (8-3) and Foster/Ngo (8-4) polished off the Titans at Nos. 1-2 doubles, respectively. The unbeaten War Eagles (5-0 overall) have a 13-match winning streak in the series, with eight of them being 7-2, 8-1 or 9-0 margins.

Foster and Ngo have 5-0 records in singles. Becker is 4-0. Rosenbaum and Ball are 4-1.