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It’s been a bumpy road for Davie’s tennis team.
Against CPC rivals Reagan and West Forsyth, the score after singles was 3-3 both times. But both times Davie fell 6-3 after getting swept in doubles.
At home against Reagan on March 3, Luke Cranfill, Riley Mallory and Brady Carter put up lopsided victories in the four, five and six spots, respectively.
“Underclassmen continue to play well,” coach Shane Nixon said. “Luke and Riley are playing very well. Brady has hit last year’s form again and I am so happy with his play. Brady is a tone-setter, and when he plays well it is infectious.”
The Raiders, though, took all three doubles to beat Davie for the seventh consecutive time and the 18th time in 22 meetings.
“This one is completely on me,” Nixon said. “The compressed schedule and the weather have limited the amount of work we’ve done on doubles, and it is showing. We will get better at doubles – that is a promise.”
It was the same story three days later at West Forsyth. Cranfill, Mallory and Carter gained more glory to allow Davie to split singles 3-3. But again Davie (1-3 CPC) had no answers in doubles, partly because it was shorthanded.
“West Forsyth is the best team in our conference, and we had guys who had to leave after singles for Band MPAs,” Nixon said after the seventh straight loss to the Titans. “Beating West is tough when your gun is loaded fully, but when you don’t have all your bullets, it is near impossible. Three of our top four left after singles.”
Freshmen Cranfill and Mallory are both 4-0 at four and five, respectively. Carter, a sophomore, is 3-0 at No. 6.
“The freshmen are not playing like freshmen,” Nixon said. “Luke and Riley have just come out of the gate on fire. Luke is playing so well and Riley makes every point a battle. Luke’s tennis is at such a high level, I tell him at every switch over: ‘If we are trading ground strokes, we win.’ I watch Riley play so hard and say to him: ‘If you keep playing this way, not many folks will have the stomach to beat you.’ Chris Samet, who’s battled through some sickness, came out in doubles with a partner he hadn’t played a ton with and played out of this world. This freshman class is going to be special.
“I don’t want to forget Brady, my lone sophomore. Brady easily could have folded the tent early on. He was as high as No. 3 last year, got beat out in seeding matches and wasn’t in the top six in our first one. But he stuck with it, challenged his way in and hasn’t looked back. Seems like every opponent comes off the court and says: ‘He is just hard to play against.’”
Nixon said his top players – Zach Hill, Grayson Busse and Barrett Taylor – are giving it all they’ve got and he hurts for them.
“Zach really faced a good player (from Reagan),” he said. “Grayson and Barrett each put up a heck of a fight (against Reagan), with Grayson even splitting. These guys are such steady forces that even when they don’t win, they help this young team. My three seniors are struggling to get Ws, but man are they playing hard.”