Varsity Girls Tennis
Schedule
Roster
Coaches
Team Stories
Our Varsity Girls Tennis team hit the road to take on Arendell Parrott Academy on Tuesday, October 24th. The Warriors were looking to keep their momentum going after coming off a win against Forsyth Country Day. The Warriors were a bit slow to start after coming off a long bus ride. Nevertheless, the Warriors were focused on the task at hand. The match was back and forth and came down to the final match before a winner could be declared. The Warriors were able to battle their way to a 5-4 victory over the Patriots to clinch their spot in the State Championship game. The Warriors will play Cape Fear Academy on Saturday, October 28th at 11:00am at the Cary Tennis Park. Come out and support our Varsity Girls Tennis Team as they compete for a State Title!
Our Varsity Girls Tennis Team hosted conference opponent Trinity Academy on Thursday, Sept. 21st. The Warriors were all focused and ready to compete. The matches were challenging and very competitive. Junior Kennedy Holmes won a tough 3 set match in complete darkness. "They were a good team and we competed really well today. I am proud of the girls." -Coach Crowder
Our Varsity Girls Tennis Team hosted Cary Christian on Tuesday, September 5th. Despite the weather, the Warriors were focused and ready to compete in their first conference match up of the season. It was very hot and the Warriors had a few long matches but they were able to prevail. "We were more consistent as a team today." - Coach Crowder
UPPER SCHOOL ROUND-UP (8/21-8/25)
JV FOOTBALL
Our JV Football team traveled to Cary Christian to take on the Knights for their season opener. The Warriors were in high spirits and ready to compete. Matthew Palmer had a 60 yard for a touchdown as the only score for the Warriors. “The loss was tough but was a great learning experience. We will learn and get better from it.” – Coach Viera The Warriors next contest is against Arendell Parrott Academy at home next Wednesday, August 30th.
VARSITY SOCCER
ARENDELL PARROTT (8/22) Our Varsity Boys Soccer Team travelled to Arendell Parrott Academy to take on the Patriots. The Warriors were feeling confident coming off of their strong performance against Dash United. The Warriors had a positive start with several attacking opportunites but made a costly error on defense that led to a goal by the Patriots. “It took us a while to adjust fielding with 3 new players on defense.” – Coach Sewell. The Warriors gave up 2 more goals before the half and went into halftime down 3-0. The Warriors came out the second half and played much better. The Warriors controlled play, created more chances and were able to get a goal back; Landon Brestwitz scored with an assist from Fabian Fallas. “We have work to do, as we must improve our game awareness and technical abilities, best part of it all; the boys are up to the challenge.” -Coach Cornéjo
CARY ACADEMY (8/24) The Varsity Boys Soccer Team faced Cary Academy on their home field. The Warriors held the Chargers scoreless in the first half but were unable to score themselves. The Warriors came out of the half flat and allowed 4 goals in the second half. “The boys tried hard but it just wasn’t enough today. We will go back to the practice field as there is much to work on!” – Coach Cornéjo
VARSITY CROSS COUNTRY
THALES ACADEMY (8/22) Our Varsity Cross Country team traveled to Rolesville to compete in their first race of the season hosted by Thales Academy. The start to the season has been challenged by high heat and humidity, but the team has been faithful to train when and where they can. The Warriors were eager, and a little apprehensive, to race, to find out their level of fitness, and to set a 5K season best on which to build. The girls’ team led by Sophomore captain Lizzie Latchford with Freshmen girls Annie Erickson and Emma Rose Marshall, was first to race in a field of 47 athletes. Lizzie and Annie ran together through the first two miles and finished the race in 15th (28:19) and 19th (28:46) with only 27 seconds between them. Emma Rose ran courageously and showed mental toughness in successfully finishing her first Varsity race (39, 35:43).By the time the gun went off at 6:05 PM for the boys’ race, the temperature had cooled significantly and with cloud cover, a light breeze, and a largely shaded course, conditions were much better than expected. Our six athletes, led by Senior captain Kaishun Sato-Choi, Charlie Slawinski, Connor Jordan, Nico Janas, Carter Moran, and Thomas France ran respectable first races of the season. First to cross the finish line for St. David’s was Charlie, whose 2nd place overall finish in a sub 18:00 time of 17:56 bodes very well for the season ahead. Rounding out our team in the seven-school field of 68 athletes were Connor Jordan (43, 24:52), Nico Janas (51, 26:06), Kaishun Sato-Choi (57, 28:12), Carter Moran (63, 31:13) and Thomas France (67, 33:17). The team earned a 6th place finish with these performances.
VARSITY GIRLS GOLF
GRACE CHRISTIAN OF SANDFORD (8/22) Our Varsity Girls Golf Team opened their season against Grace Christian of Sandford at the Quail Ridge Country Club. Mackenzie Cline was our lone player on a course she had never played before and on a very hot afternoon. The course was in great condition! Mackenzie shot a 1 over par 37 to be the Match Medalist of the day among 15 other players. She started with a double bogey on her first hole, and then eagled the next hole, reaching a par 5 in 2 shots and making a 10 foot putt for eagle, to get back to even par through 2 holes. She had a very steady round after that. Mackenzie finished as the medalist for this event.
VARSITY GIRLS TENNIS
RAVENSCROFT (8/22) The Varsity Girls Tennis Team travelled to Arendell Parrott Academy to take the Patriots. Junior Kennedy Holmes and 8th grader Anna Hauser both won very tough singles matches in 3 sets. The doubles teams for the Warriors played well again. The Warriors are learning and growing with each match. “I am very proud of how all of the girls played. Parrott had a really strong lineup, especially at the top.” – Coach Crowder
JV VOLLEYBALL
ARENDELL PARROTT (8/17) Our JV Volleyball Team played big rival Arendell Parrott in Lockerbie Gym on August 17th. It was the first game of the season for this team, and they came ready to play! While the team lost, both sets were close (27-25 and 25-23). The entire team had a consistent serving and hitting game with standouts M.E. Martin, L. Graham, E.K. Woody and M.E. Borges. Coach Lamb and Coach Eastmann were pleased with the team’s performance and know that their team will continue to improve throughout the season. They look forward to their next game at North Raleigh Christian on August 22nd.
NORTH RALEIGH CHRISTIAN ACADEMY (8/22) Our JV Volleyball Team traveled to NRCA to take on the Knights on August 22nd. The Warriors were looking to build upon a their performance in the first game of the season. The Warriors were a bit nervous due to the notoriety of the Knights. The Warriors allowed their nerves to get the best of them in this contest. By the time they settled into the match and realized they could be competitive against NRCA it was too late. “the girls let themselves get overwhelmed that the other team was known to be a hard one.” – Coach Lamb
VARISTY VOLLEYBALL
NORTH RALEIGH CHRISTIAN ACADEMY Our Varsity Volleyball Team travelled across town to face the Knights on Tuesday, August 22nd. The Warriors had a slow start in the first 2 sets as our hitters just could not seem to get going. The Warriors had a few unforced errors and trouble defending the outside and middle hitters of NRCA. The Warriors were able to make some adjustments in the 3rd set with Senior Skyler Woods setting 5-1 and Senior Rebekah Leshnock moving to outside hitter. Sophomore Grimsley McNairy stepped up for the Warriors and had several key plays as she was aggressively attacking from the front and back row. Senior Rebekah Leshnock made some key blocks as well to help the Warriors take that set. “We faced some talented players today. Playing against this level of competition will help prepare us for the tough schedule ahead.” – Coach Lightbourn
CARY CHRISTIAN SCHOOL (8/25) – Our Varsity Volleyball Team headed to Cary Christian on Friday, August 25th. The Warriors were looking to bounce back from their first loss of the season against NRCA. The Warriors started off slow but were able to get things going and win the first set. The Warriors had too many unforced errors in the 2nd and 3rd sets and found themselves down 1-3 headed into the 4th set. The Warriors were able to bounce back and win the 4th set behind some key kills and blocks from Senior Rebekah Leshnock and Junior Eliza Everett. By the 5th set the Warriors were clicking on all cylinders and easily took the win. “We are still making too many unforced errors during crucial moments of the match. We have to get better.” - Coach Lightbourn
Our Varsity Girls Tennis Team hosted Ravenscroft in their season opener on Tuesday, August 22. The Varsity Girls Tennis Team was focused and ready to jump start their 2023 season. The match was under way and off to a great start for the Warriors. Our 8th graders: Rankin Barnhill, Liza Jane Green, and Anna Hauser all played very strong today. "I am so proud of our 8th graders. They all looked great today. I am excited to see them continue to grow." - Coach Crowder The doubles teams for the Warriors played really well together. The Warriors will be in action again on Thursday, August 24th when they travel to Arendell Parrott Academy to take on the Patriots.
The varsity girls tennis team traveled to Cape Fear Academy on Thursday, September 1st. It was a long drive and a long day that didn't end as well as the team had hoped. Despite a 1-8 loss against Cape Fear the team played hard. Coach Jenn Crowder said that her girls "all played really good singles matches against strong opponents. They should not hang their heads over this tough loss." In particular, Kate Crowder, Rankin Barnhill and Kennedy Holmes all worked hard and smart during their singles games and should be "proud of how they played", Coach Crowder added. Sisters Anne and Madison George took the lone win in the matches 8-3 and played clean, coordinated and communicated well during their game. The team returns to action after the long weekend and a well-deserved break on Wednesday, September 7th at home where they will play Greensboro Day School.
St. David’s Varsity Girls Tennis headed to Wilmington on Tuesday, October 26th to take on Cape Fear Academy in the semifinals of the NCISAA playoffs. After a great start to the tournament they were ready to action and took to the courts first with doubles teams of Goracke/Tanner, A. George/ Holderness, and Barnes/ M. George to kick off the match. A.George and Holderness quickly swept court 2 to secure the teams first win. The dynamic duo of Goracke/Tanner had a hard fought match that came down to a tiebreaker in an exciting back and forth between two great opponents. Unfortunately, they came up a little short and ended at 9-8 in this critical second double match. Next up were singles where Kate Goracke decisively won court one with a 6-1, 6-2 finish. While the lady Warriors came up a little short they had a great season and an impressive run in the state playoffs. Coach Jenn Crowder added” while I am sad to see the season come to an end, these girls have so much to be proud of!”
After a restful fall break, the Warriors took the courts to face Grace Christian in a home match with a pink-out themed fan group in the stands. The team cruised through their singles and doubles matches with ease. They took smart swings, had few unforced errors and kept putting sustained pressure on the opponent. Serving was impressive to watch too! Coach Jenn Crowder kept it brief in her comments telling us that "everybody played very well!" The team was excited to kickoff the last half of the season and starting with singles everyone took care of business disallowing a deciding set. Madison George won 6-1, 6-0 at #6 singles and in doubles Elizabeth Wiley had her first doubles win partnered with Anna Clayton Tanner. Come support the Warriors Thursday, October 7th as they face Arendell Parrott Academy at home!
On Thursday, September 16th, the Warriors hopped in the car hoping to secure a win against rivals Parrott Academy. Arriving in Kinston with a few raindrops on the windshield, we headed out to the courts to get a good warmup in. We began the match with singles and after a rough start we lost courts 1-4 in singles match-ups. With two singles matches left, the sky let loose and it poured. We had to wait for the rain to stop. It finally stopped and blowers were used to dry the courts. Junior Anne Slater Barnes had a tough loss once she went back out and Senior Anna Clayton Tanner had a heartbreaking loss, losing 9-11 in a match tiebreaker. Parrott Academy has a strong team, however we just did not play our best. Come support the Warriors on Tuesday, September 21st at home against Cary Christian at 4.
On Tuesday, August 31st, The Lady Warriors took to the courts to face a very strong opponent in Durham Academy. Losing all three doubles lead to a rough start but the team regrouped and headed back out to hopefully turn the match around. Their struggles continued in singles where Junior Kate Goracke at #1 singles and junior Anne George at #2 singles held strong against very strong opponents. Coach Crowder said, "Today was rough but hopefully we can turn the season around on Thursday. We weren't as focused as we needed to be but our singles in Anne George and Kate both played great!" Come support our Women's Tennis team by cheering them on at their next match on September 2nd at 3:30 at home!