Varsity Girls Tennis

Our Varsity Girls Tennis Team hosted conference opponent Grace Christian on Tuesday, September 20^th.  The Warriors marched into battle down one key piece.  Senior Anne George was sidelined with a foot injury and will be out several weeks.  Looking for another player to fill in for Anne, Coach Crowder called upon 8^th grader Jordan Holmes.  In Jordan's debut with varsity she won 3 doubles and 6 singles matches.  The Warriors defeated Grace Christian with a final of 9 to 0.  "Jordan played well for us today.  She showed composure in all of her matches.  We will keep up playing up with varsity," said Coach Crowder.  The Warriors will be in action again on Thursday, September 22^nd as they travel to Trinity Academy for a 4:00pm game time.

Varsity Girl's Tennis Finish The Week Off Perfect

by: T. Clifton

The Warriors continued their dominant winning streak against Wake Christian on Friday, September, 9^th.  The Warriors were focused from start to finish, with aggressive serves and net play they took control of the Bulldogs early.  "We gave up only one game the whole match.  It was a nice day for tennis and the girls all played well," said Coach Jennifer Crowder.  The Varsity Tennis team will be in action again as they face another conference opponent in Grace Christian on Tuesday, September 13^th. 

The varsity girls tennis team started the week off with their first conference match of the season against Cary Christian.  Kate Goracke & Rankin Barnhill started the day off with a strong doubles match to set the Warriors winning streak in motion.  Anne George and Madison George followed suit in their doubles match with a decisive win to keep the Warriors ahead of the Knights. The entire Warriors team were fierce competitors the rest of the evening only losing 1 match as they stormed to an 8-1 victory.  "The girls were all ready to play today after a few days of rain and they played with a lot of determination," said Coach Jennifer Crowder. The Warriors are back in action again tomorrow September 9^th where they will face Wake Christian.

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. 

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK 

Athlete of the Week is an initiative to recognize the success of our student-athletes. Athletes will be recognized based on the previous week’s performances. Along with being recognized as athlete of the week, the recipients will be given a certificate and free sandwich from Jersey’s Mike’s for being athlete of the week. 

WEEK 8

ANNE GEORGE

The female athlete of the week is junior Anne George on varsity tennis.  Anne has provided solid play on the varsity girls tennis team throughout the season.  In the quarterfinals of the state tennis tournament she recorded decisive wins in her singles and doubles matches to help the team advance to the state semifinals.  In the state semifinals she recorded a win with her doubles partner Elizabeth Holderness. Congratulations to the varsity girls tennis team on a great season.  

LUKE FULLER

The male athlete of the week is senior Luke Fuller on the varsity cross country team. Luke recently led the varsity boys cross country team in final meet prior to NCISAA state meet.  He is a qualifier for the state cross country meet that is taking place on Friday, October 29 along with several of his other cross country teammates.   

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!” 

The Varsity Girls Tennis took to the courts Saturday to kickoff the start of state playoffs. In this quarter-finals match up all three doubles team kicked off the match and decisively won each court; Goracke/Tanner won 8-3, A. George/Holderness 8-1 and Barnes/M. George 8-2. This quickly put the team up 3-0 heading into singles where Junior Anne George quickly secured the 4th win for the team and Senior Anna Clayton Tanner topped off the match as she secured the 5th win. Reaching 5-0 closed the match and they discontinued next singles without a need for them. "It was our last home match for our seniors" said Coach Jenn Crowder, "we're going to miss them but are ready for more competition to come in the semis. Next up, the team will travel to Wilmington on Tuesday, October 26th to take on Cape Fear Academy in the semifinals at 2:15pm. Let’s go Warriors!

 

St. David’s Varsity Girl's tennis team celebrated senior night with a convincing 9-0 win over rival Cary Christian. Seniors Anna Clayton Tanner, Anne Slater Barnes, Elizabeth Holderness and Elizabeth Wiley were honored for their many contributions and leadership to the team on and off the court! Coach Jenn Crowder said of her team "they have been so wonderful all season and I'm proud of them all and the hard work they put in, especially the seniors today The dynamic duos of Kate Goracke and Anna Clayton Tanner quickly secured a win at #1 doubles followed by Anne George and Elizabeth Holderness at #2 doubles. Rounding out the doubles wins at # 3 were Barnes with partner Kate Crowder. Next up the lady Warriors hit the courts to begin singles play. All the singles courts secured wins for clean sweep! Join us next week as we begin playoffs! 

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! 

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK 

Athlete of the Week is an initiative to recognize the success of our student-athletes. Athletes will be recognized based on the previous week’s performances. Along with being recognized as athlete of the week, the recipients will be given a certificate and free sandwich from Jersey’s Mike’s for being athlete of the week. 

WEEK 5

ELIZABETH HOLDERNESS

The female athlete of the week is senior Elizabeth Holderness. Elizabeth won her match against Cary Christian in singles and in her doubles match.  The Lady Warriors look forward to conference play coming back from fall break.  

CHRISTIAN SHAW

The male athlete of the week is freshman Christian Shaw on the JV football team. Christian Shaw did a lot of work on the ground by rushing for 180 yards and accounted for 4 touchdowns in total for the game against Arendell Parrott Academy last week.  The JV football team is 4 - 0 with their recent win against Sandhills Christian School going into fall break and looks forward to their next home game against Grace Christian on Thursday, October 7.

On Thursday, September 23rd, the Warriors headed out to Kildare Farms to take on Grace Christian. After a nice warmup, the team took to the courts for singles play. Starting and finishing strong, the Warriors won all of their singles matches. The Warriors decided to change things up a bit for doubles. Senior Elizabeth Holderness and Junior Anne George won easily at #1 doubles. #2 doubles Senior Anna Clayton Tanner and Sophomore Madison George had fun playing together for the first time all season and even pulled out a win, 8-0! #3 doubles Freshmen Kennedy Holmes and Sophomore Kate Crowder won, 8-1. Coach Crowder said,” everybody played really well today. Fall break will be good to rest and get ready for the last month of the season.” Come support the Warriors on October 5th at 4 at home against Grace Christian, and don't forget to wear PINK!

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 Wednesday, September 15th, the warriors drove to Ting Park in Holly Springs to take on Cary Christian. After a little rain shower and squeegeeing the courts, we finally headed out to begin singles play. Dominating, Juniors Kate Goracke and Anne George and Senior Elizabeth Holderness won easily. Sophomore Kate Crowder battled for 2 hours and 55 minutes and pulled out the win. Senior Anna Clayton Tanner won her match easily and Sophomore Madison George battled back impressively from being down a set and won in a tiebreaker. The doubles matches went on staggered but #1 doubles Kate Goracke and Anna Clayton Tanner and #2 doubles Anne George and Elizabeth Holderness won. Even though #3 doubles Senior Elizabeth Wiley and Freshmen Kennedy Holmes lost, it was so fun watching them play together. Coach Jenn Crowder says that “the girls were all focused and played really well.” The Warriors take on rivals Parrott Academy in Kinston at 3:30 Thursday, September 16th. 

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!