The Catawba Ridge girls’ tennis team claimed the Region 3-4A title by beating Indian Land 5-1 Tuesday evening.
It was the second consecutive region title for the Copperheads in the sport as they have won the two titles in their first three years of existence. Just like last year, Catawba Ridge swept the competition and finished their region schedule 8-0. The win Tuesday put them at 11-1 overall on the season.
Catawba Ridge won all of their matches in straight sets and lost at just No. 1 singles. Winning for the Copperheads was No. 2 singles Claire Hivner with a 6-0, 6-0 shutout and Aiyana Uter taking a 6-3, 6-1 win at No. 3 singles.
The Copperheads won at No. 4 singles with Sara Maleady winning 6-0, 6-0 and No. 5 singles Lilly L’esperance winning by the same score of 6-0, 6-0. In No. 2 doubles, Mallory McCart and Lucy Drew won 6-2, 6-3.
Catawba Ridge beat York 6-0 Monday setting up the region sweep against Indian Land Tuesday. Winning Monday for the Copperheads was Sarah Taylor 6-0, 6-0; Hivner 6-0, 6-0; Uter 6-1, 6-1; Maleady 6-1, 6-1 and L’esperance 6-1, 6-1. McCart and Drew teamed to take a 6-2, 6-2 win as well in doubles.
Despite locking up the region title, Catawba Ridge isn’t through playing as they have a home match Thursday against North Carolina’s Myers Park. They will finish the regular season with road matches against Northwestern and Rock Hill, while hosting rivals Fort Mill and Nation Ford.
Tennis
In other tennis related news, Nation Ford split matches over Gaffney and Clover on both Monday and Tuesday this week.
The Falcons beat Gaffney 5-1 Monday with No. 2 singles player Lauren Padgett winning 6-2, 6-0 and Bella Neff winning 6-4, 6-3 at No. 3 singles. Ava Baldino won at No. 4 singles 6-0, 6-1 and Alexa Brenner won at No. 5 singles 6-1, 6-0. Ansley McDonald and Eva Arnautovic teamed to win at No. 2 doubles 6-1, 6-0.
Nation Ford fell Tuesday to Clover 4-2 with just Brenner winning 7-6, 6-1 at No. 5 singles and the No. 2 doubles team of McDonald and Arnautovic winning 6-1, 6-3.
Golf
The Catawba Ridge girls golf team won the local division of the 14-team Lady Trojans Invitational Tuesday at the Rock Hill Country Club. The local division featured eight teams from York County – all three local high schools along with Northwestern, Rock Hill, South Pointe, York and Clover.
The Copperheads shot a 344 as a team. Katherine Mann shot a 76 (41-35) for Catawba Ridge to lead the way. Eileen Zeoli finished with a 78 (42-36) and Kate Gilner shot an 85 (43-42) for the Copperheads. Ella Hill finished the scoring for Catawba Ridge with a 105 (53-52).
Nation Ford was second in the local division and shot a 369 as a team. They were led by an 80 (42-38) from Vivian Harris. Her score was followed by Katie Griggs with a 94 (50-44), and then Sara McCaskill with a 96 (50-46). Fharren Coleman finished the scoring for the Falcons with a 99 (48-51).
Fort Mill shot a 382 as a team and was third in the local division. The Jackets were led by MacKenzie Finn with a 91 (45-46). Both Greycen Baker and Samantha Benson were within a shot of each other. Baker finished with a 95 (50-45) and Benton shot a 96 (48-48). Cayla Cappuzzo finished with a 100 (53-47) to end the scoring for Fort Mill.
Blythewood won the visiting division and shot the lowest of any team in the tournament with a 295. The visiting division also featured Lexington, TL Hanna, River Bluff, Gaffney and Boiling Springs.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
