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By Brian Pitts

Enterprise Record

Davie boys tennis is a program with the wind at its back – 10 straight winning seasons and 14 winning seasons in 15 years. Its last losing record came in 2005.

The last three years in the Central Piedmont Conference, the War Eagles finished first, second to Reagan, second to Reagan. But they  enhanced their reputation by knocking off Reagan, 5-4, on March 12, 2020 – only to see the season canceled a few days later by COVID-19. How big was the win over Reagan? The Raiders had a 28-match winning streak in the CPC. Davie was 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the league when everything stopped.

Davie has a chance to be special in 2021. The form from recent years held as Davie cruised in the first two matches. It opened the season with a 9-0 shutout of visiting Reynolds on March 15.

“We played really well,” seventh-year coach Shane Nixon said. “Our guys really took care of business. To beat a good Reynolds team 9-0 is better than we had hoped for.”

Sophomore Burke Rosenbaum (6-2, 6-1), senior Luke Stillson (6-1, 6-0), junior C Crenshaw (6-2, 6-1), senior Jack Nixon (6-0, 6-1), senior Cren Rosenbaum (6-0, 6-0) and sophomore Bryce Bailey (6-0, 6-3) won easily in singles, and B. Rosenbaum/Crenshaw (8-1), Stillson/Nixon (8-0) and C. Rosenbaum/Bailey (8-2) did the same in doubles.

“We got stellar play out of our top six guys,” the coach said. “In particular, I thought Cren and Bryce played well. I can’t say enough about Cren’s versatility through the years for our program. And for Bryce, playing in his first real action, to go out and get two wins against Reynolds? Just outstanding. Of course, Burke, Luke, C and Jack all played well. It was a totally dominating effort.”

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Two days later, the War Eagles stomped visiting West Forsyth 8-1 to run their CPC record to 2-0.

The winners in singles: B. Rosenbaum (6-1, 6-1), Stillson (6-3, 5-7, 10-5), Crenshaw (6-0, 6-2), Nixon (6-1, 6-2) and C. Rosenbaum (6-1, 4-6, 10-6).

Davie swept doubles behind B. Rosenbaum/Crenshaw (8-2), Nixon/C. Rosenbaum (8-4) and Stillson/Seth Hill (9-7).

“Jack did what Jack does,” his coaching father said. “He was consistent and made the other guy make mistakes.

“Cren really showed his guts. He played a great first set, only to see the West Forsyth kid come charging back and cause a split. Then Cren found the reserve I knew he had and pulled out a big win.

“I think Luke might have improved as much as any kid I’ve ever had from the day he walked in the program. He found himself in a split and showed what he’s made of.

“C and Burke are both exceptional players. C hits shots that you simply have to have seen to believe. Burke is simply the best player in the CPC right now. He has the best tennis hands I’ve ever seen.”

Notes: Davie has six- and eight-match winning streaks against Reynolds and West, respectively. … Coming into the season, the singles career records looked like this: C. Rosenbaum 28-9, Stillson 23-5, Nixon 34-3, Crenshaw 18-6 and B. Rosenbaum 6-0.