Both the Nation Ford Falcons and Catawba Ridge Copperheads girls’ tennis teams clinched their respective region titles Tuesday.
Catawba Ridge finished their region schedule with a perfect 8-0 in winning the Regin 3-4A title, while Nation Ford was able to win the Region 3-5A title by beating rival Fort Mill clinching the title for them.
The Nation Ford-Fort Mill match lasted well over five hours with the Falcons getting a 4-3 win. The match had three third-set tie breakers, including No. 1 doubles which was a region clinching match as Alex and Vanessa Cardona teamed to beat Madison McCarty and Katie Pierson 6-4, 3-6, 10-5.
The Cardona sisters won their singles matches as well with Vanessa winning No. 1 singles 6-2, 6-4 against McCarty and Alex beating Pierson 6-4, 7-5. Tanvi Sikka won at No. 3 singles for Nation Ford over Sophie Bennett 6-3, 6-4.
Fort Mill did win three matches with Rachel Templeton winning at No. 4 singles over Meera Patel 4-6, 6-4, 10-5 and Bristol Kershaw winning at No. 5 singles over Neha Arunprakash 7-6, 1-6, 10-5. In No. 2 doubles, Clara Lake and Kate Hill for Fort Mill beat Lauren Padgett and Bella Neff 6-1, 6-1. With each school having won three matches, it was necessary for the No. 1 doubles to be played.
The Falcons sit at 7-0 in the region with one more match at Gaffney Oct. 8. Even if they lose to Gaffney, they would still win the region title as their next closest competition, Fort Mill, would have two losses. Fort Mill has one more region match Oct. 7 at Boiling Springs and needs to win that match to keep their playoff hopes alive.
The Copperheads beat Indian Land 5-1 in winning their title Tuesday evening. Leading the way for Catawba Ridge was No. 1 singles player Sarah Taylor, who won 6-2, 6-0 and No. 2 singles Sara Maleady, who won 6-3, 6-0. Also winning for the Copperheads was No. 3 singles Claire Hivner 6-0, 6-1 and No. 4 singles Aiyana Uter, who won 6-1, 6-0. Mallory McCart and Emily Taylor teamed up for the win at No. 2 doubles winning 6-1, 6-3.
Catawba Ridge still has non-region contests against Fort Mill and Nation Ford this week and next.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
