Southern, UP tennis punch Regional tickets
Oct. 14—The semifinals and finals of the Sandhills Athletic Conference 3A women's tennis tournament were held Wednesday evening at Southern Lee High School, and it was dominated by players from the host school and nearby Union Pines.
The Lady Vikings claimed all three of the Mideast Regional singles spots on offer, with the Lady Cavaliers taking two of the three doubles spots. A Scotland duo claimed the other one.
The singles semifinals were almost a Union Pines intramural event, with only Southern Lee freshman Blair Young, the Lady Cavaliers' No. 5 singles player, in the field along with the top three Union Pines singles players. In one semi, Lady Viking top seed Tyne Ross beat her third-seeded teammate Abby Robertson 8-1, while in the other, Union Pines second seed Lily Slyman defeated Young 8-3.
Ross beat Slyman 8-0 in the final to win the tournament, but all three of the Union Pines players will move on to the regional, to be held at Burlington Tennis Center on Oct. 21-22. Robertson defeated Young 8-1 in the third-place match to punch her ticket.
With Union Pines' top players choosing to enter the singles, Southern Lee would rule the doubles, but Scotland's duo of Laura Wlodarczak and Valeria Carranza did not make it easy for the Lady Cavaliers. The duo, who play No. 1 doubles for the Lady Scots, had lost to Southern's top doubles team of Kate Jackson and Kambell Beasley back on Sept. 20. But in the rematch, Wlodarczak and Carranza scored an 8-6 upset to reach the regionals and the finals of the conference tournament.
The other semifinal was made up entirely of local players. Southern's No. 2 doubles team of Evie Eller and Carrie Bryan beat Brooklin Underwood and Grace Britton of Lee County by an 8-2 score.
In the finals, the Lady Cavaliers got the win, with Eller and Bryan beating Wlodarczak and Carranza 8-6. Jackson and Beasley played Underwood and Britton for third place and the other regional spot, with Jackson and Beasley prevailing 8-2.
Union Pines, which also qualified for the 3A dual-team state playoffs, will find out its first-round opponent when the brackets are announced on Monday. The first round will be played on Wednesday, Oct. 19.
