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By Brian Pitts

Davie Enterprise Record

Davie’s tennis team endured its first regular-season loss since June of 2021.

It’s the greatest truth in sports: Nobody wins ‘em all.

Two massive streaks fell when visiting Reynolds edged Davie 5-4 at South Davie Middle on Sept. 13. Davie had won 35 straight regular-season matches and 30 straight in the Central Piedmont Conference – both program records.

The War Eagles of Collin Ferebee had led a charmed life when it came to 5-4 scores. They won by that margin six times during the streak, beating Reagan, Reynolds and West Forsyth twice each. They beat Reynolds by one in the first meeting on Aug. 21.

It was quite a run.

“It ended the best way possible,” Ferebee said. “I said: ‘Look, we had many matches go our way and eventually one wasn’t going to.’ We got more than our fair share of things going our way, so I have nothing to be too upset over. In a rebuild year, a 5-4 loss to a really good team like Reynolds … I can handle that. We got beat; we didn’t lose. We played as well as we could against a team with senior experience.”

The first regular-season loss since 6-3 against Reagan in June of 2021 is the bad news. The good: Davie is still tied for first with Reagan, which defeated Reynolds the first time around. Third-place Reynolds has two CPC losses.

“We still have a second match with Reagan, so that one (this) week will determine first place,” Ferebee said.

Elliot Newsome stayed perfect with a 6-2, 6-0 win at No. 1 over Elizabeth Kim. Davie’s star junior is 8-0.

“Elizabeth is one heck of a player, and the score did not reflect the match,” Ferebee said. “Elliot was the deserving winner, but there were some excellent points out there that looked like college points at times.”

Sophomore Casey Cao had a gritty comeback at No. 6. The scores were 4-6, 6-0, 10-8 as Cao knocked off a senior opponent.

“Casey has not always been a starter, but when she’s popped in the lineup, she’s found ways to win matches that she probably shouldn’t have won,” Ferebee said. “She doesn’t have any weapons that she’s going to wow you with, but she’s going to get the ball back, get the ball back and it irritates her opponents. She’s quick and she has a good serve. She’s just a good player.”

Davie fell to two seniors and two juniors from Nos. 2-5 singles, creating a 4-2 deficit going into doubles. Davie had to sweep doubles; it settled for two victories.

Newsome/Bailey Aderhold won 8-5 at No. 1. Corbin Drum/Leah Gibson won 8-4 at No. 2. Ferebee said the level of play on those two courts was unbelievable.

“The level of tennis at one and two doubles was insane,” he said. “It was some of the highest quality high school tennis that we’ve ever seen. I’m sure if you watch the state semifinals and state finals, you’re going to get D-1 players playing against each other. But for two ‘normal’ schools, in my twenty-some years of being around high school tennis, it was some of the highest level of tennis that I’ve ever seen.”

Notes: Two days before meeting Reynolds, the War Eagles breezed past Glenn 9-0 in Kernersville. Newsome, Drum, Aderhold, Gibson, Ali Cranfill and Gabby Thompson all won 6-0, 6-0. Thompson/Cao, Bethany Jacobs/Olivia Swisher and Aubrey VanDyke/Evie Conlin tacked on wins in doubles. … Davie had defeated Reynolds five straight times before slipping to 7-1 overall and 6-1 in the CPC. … Newsome, Cao (4-0 at six) and Cranfill (4-0 at five) are undefeated in singles. Drum is 7-1 at two, Aderhold is 7-1 at three, Gibson is 6-2 at four and Thompson is 5-2 at five/six.