Trojans Finish Region in Tie for Third

We went to Gaffney and our match went almost as we expected. We played hard from beginning to end & took the match to increase our region record to 6-4 overall. Other region results tonight included Clover beating York 6-0 to finish tied with us at 6-4 in the region. The upset of the day was Fort Mill defeating Nation Ford 4 to 3 after playing the #1 doubles match. Fort Mill and Nation Ford finish as co-champions in the region & tiebreakers will have to be played out to determine playoff seeding.

Monday's match with South Pointe will be our senior night & we will have a little celebration afterwards to thank Drayton, Michael & Tyler for their contributions to Northwestern tennis over the years. All three boys will be playing singles matches against the Stallions as we will mix up the lineup some to have a good, fun match with our cross town rivals.

Go Trojans!

Location: Gaffney
Result: Northwestern 5, Gaffney 1

Singles
1- Seth Russell def Clayton Whitt 6-0, 6-1
2- Drayton Wade def James BeLue 6-1, 6-0
3- Hunter Love def Nick Parker 6-0, 6-1
4- Mark Lovingood (G) def John Clark 6-4, 2-6, 10-5
5- Jordan Beaver def Milah Shah 6-1, 6-0

Doubles
2- Collins Mauldin/Michael Baldwin def Aaron Warren/Alex Hitchcliffe 6-1, 6-0

Final Region 3-AAAA Standings
1- Fort Mill 8-2
1- Nation Ford 8-2 (tie)
3- Northwestern 6-4
3- Clover 6-4 (tie)
5- York 2-8
6- Gaffney 0-10

Trojans Drop to Third Place tie with Loss to Fort Mill

I told the boys after the 2-5 loss tonight at Fort Mill that we need to be big time Nation Ford fans for the day tomorrow while we focus on defeating Gaffney. The current region standings have Nation Ford in first place (8-1), Fort Mill in second (7-2), Northwestern & Clover in third (5-4). Nation Ford plays Fort Mill, we go to Gaffney, and Clover hosts York in the final region matches of 2010.

Tonights match had two highlights for us. First was that Hunter Love (pictured) played as well as he has all season in a grudge match against Lovin from Fort Mill. Hunter had lost in their previous meeting in straight sets & was determined to return the favor. Boy, did he ever. He dominated from the first point to the last as he claimed a 6-1, 6-3 victory for the Trojans.

Our undefeated doubles team of Collins Mauldin and Michael Baldwin stayed perfect as a pair this season. Huckaby & Bullard of Fort Mill are good doubles players, but in the end the cohesiveness of our guys paid off as they claimed 1 out of two tiebreakers in the end for our second point.

Mission at hand is Gaffney. We need to take care of business there to insure we are at least tied with Clover for third. After that, we'll say our prayers for Nation Ford as I have no idea how the tiebreaker will work out in the end if Fort Mill & Nation Ford are both 8-2 and Clover & us are both 6-4.

Go Trojans!

Location: Fort Mill
Result: Fort Mill 5, Northwestern 2

Singles
1- Tyler Davis def Seth Russell 6-3, 6-4
2- Kyle Patterson def Drayton Wade 4-6, 6-4, 10-6
3- Hunter Love (N) def Chase Lovin 6-1, 6-3
4- Andres Leon def John Clark 6-0, 6-2
5- Alex Masters def Jordan Beaver 6-3, 3-6, 10-7

Doubles
1- Davis/Leon def Russell/Love 8-4
2- Collins Mauldin/Michael Baldwin (N) def Clay Bullard/Cory Huckaby 6-2, 6-7, 10-6

Annoying Rain out at Fort Mill

It spit on us as we waited to depart for Fort Mill, but seemed like it wouldn't accumulate and our courts were fine at 4:00 when we left. As we pulled into Fort Mill HS, the spit became a sprinkle that made the courts barely unplayable.

This match will be made up tomorrow at 5PM at Fort Mill HS. The bus will again depart the courts at 4:10pm. No one will need to bring drinks or snacks to the match. The boys have been informed to pack their own stuff for tomorrow.