Varsity Girls Tennis

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 Monday, September 13th, the Warriors headed back out to the courts to take on Trinity School of Durham and Chapel Hill. Switching things up a little bit as we typically start with doubles, we began the match with singles. Every match started and finished strong, leading to a 6-0 score after singles. With a big, comfortable lead, doubles line-ups were changed up and the team kept competing in matches. The two George sisters, Anne and Madison, took on two very tough opponents and pulled out a win, 8-3. While the other two doubles teams were topped by Trinity, it was definitely fun to watch Senior Elizabeth Wiley and Freshmen Kennedy Holmes play in the doubles lineup for the first time! Sophomore Kate Crowder won decisively at #4 with a score of 8-0 while Junior Kate Goracke remains undefeated at #1 singles. The Lady Warriors next match is Wednesday, September 15th at Cary Christian at 4pm. 

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Athlete of the Week is a new 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 3

KATE GORACKE

The female athlete of the week is junior Kate Goracke on the varsity girls’ tennis team.  Kate has won her fifth straight match at #1 singles and in doubles play.  Her seasoned play has been a stable for the Lady Warriors and looks to continue her dominant play as the team begins to play against conference opponents.

HENRY KOON

The male athlete of the week is senior Henry Koon on the varsity football team. Henry has provided leadership on the football team through his play as a receiver and defensive end.  Last week he scored a touchdown on a 22-yard pass and provided a stability on the defensive front against Rocky Mount Academy.

After a rough loss to Durham Academy on Tuesday, the Warriors took the courts on Thursday to face Trinity Academy of Raleigh. We started with doubles and won all 3 courts. Anna Clayton Tanner and Kate Goracke won 8-3, Elizabeth Holderness and Anne George won 8-4, and Anne Slater Barnes and Madison George won 8-5. After being down after doubles in our last few matches, the team felt very encouraged heading into singles. All 6 singles players won their match. A few highlights include Junior Kate Goracke who won her fifth straight match at #1 singles and Sophomore Kate Crowder who won at #4 against a tough opponent. Coach Crowder said, " The whole team played really well in singles and doubles and it was exciting to win a match after a couple of rough days." Come support the Varsity Girls Tennis Team as they face Cary Academy at home next Wednesday, September 8th. 

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!