Northwestern Boys Take Region Match from Gaffney

We made the long trek over to Gaffney High to battle the Indians in a region match up. We represented Northwestern well and claimed another region match. Our overall record now stands at 3-2 and we are 2-2 in our region. Tomorrow's match at South Pointe will not count toward our region standings, but goes a long way in inner-city bragging rights.

Our first match to clear the courts was Seth Russell at 1 singles. Seth had little difficulty with his Gaffney opponent and claimed straight sets 6-1, 6-0.

Jordan Beaver was next to finish up at 4 singles. Jordan was also dominant from beginning to end with a straight set 6-2, 6-1 victory.

Our 2 doubles team of Hunter Love and Duncan Foy was next to finish up as the Trojans claimed our third point with another 6-2, 6-1 victory.

The clincher for the boys tonight was Jonathan Clark at 5 singles. After a back and forth first set Jonathan took the first set in a tiebreaker. The second set was equally as tight and Jonathan plowed through for a 7-5 second set to clinch the match for the Trojans.

Brian Fitzpatrick played strong at 3 singles for us. Battling an opponent that played an emotional game, Brian was able to stay composed and claim a 6-3, 6-4 win for us.

Drayton Wade had the longest match of the evening at 2 singles. His unorthodox opponent gave him a test he was not able to adjust to in time before dropping a 6-3, 7-6 decision.

We'll remain on the road through Monday, with all the rescheduling, and travel to South Pointe tomorrow, Nation Ford Thursday, and Fort Mill on Monday.

There is rain in the forecast for tomorrow, but hopefully the tennis gods will put an umbrella over Rock Hill so we can get in our rival match and continue to gain momentum. However, if the match against South Pointe is rained out, it may not get rescheduled since our region matches have to be our priority.

Go Trojans!

Box Score:

Location: Gaffney HS
Result: Northwestern 5, Gaffney 1

1s: Seth Russell (N) def James BeLue (G) 6-1, 6-0
2s: Nick Parker (G) def Drayton Wade (N) 6-3, 7-6
3s: Brian Fitzpatrick (N) def Trenton Trauh (G) 6-3, 6-4
4s: Jordan Beaver (N) def Mark Lovington (G) 6-2, 6-1
5s: Jonathan Clark (N) def Clayton Whitt (G) 7-6, 7-5

1d: DNP
2d: Duncan Foy/Hunter Love (N) def Mihan Shah/Alex Hinchlift 6-1, 6-2

Clover defeats Trojans

We finished up our match at Clover tonight. While the match began fairly even after last week's rainout, we were unsuccessful in taking any lines from a strong Clover team this evening.

We had two nail biters at 5 singles and 2 doubles. Both matches resulted in split sets and went to tiebreakers to decide the match.

Duncan Foy played at 5 singles and trailed 6-3, 5-1. Duncan came back to win 6 straight games to force the tiebreaker before dropping the tiebreak 10-5.

Brian Fitzpatrick & Jordan Beaver teamed up at 2 doubles and were successful in claiming the first set 6-4 and stormed out to a 3-0 lead in the second. Clover got hot in the second set to claim it and force the tiebreak as well.

We travel to Gaffney tomorrow for another region match. The bus will be behind the school at 3:15 to depart for the hour bus ride over. All Northwestern students are dismissed from 4th block at 3:00 and middle schoolers need to be written out by a parent to join us. The bus will depart no later than 3:25pm.

Go Trojans!

Result: Clover 7, Northwestern 0
1s: Chase Altieri def Seth Russell 6-2, 6-1
2s: Nick Deahl def Drayton Wade 6-0, 6-4
3s: Will Decker def Hunter Love 6-1, 6-2
4s: Kenneth Long def Jonathan Clark 6-2, 6-0
5s: Tucker DeLoach def Duncan Foy 6-3, 5-7, 10-5

1d: Deahl/Decker def Russell/Wade 8-3
2d: Josh Watts/JC Dougherty def Brian Fitzpatrick/Jordan Beaver 4-6, 6-3, 10-6

Travel Roster - Clover, Gaffney, & South Pointe

Here are the players traveling this week:

Mon 3/30 @ Clover (Finish match started 3/25)

Wearing purple jersey or grey t-shirt:

Seth
Drayton
Brian (snacks)
Hunter
Jordan
Jonathan C
Duncan
Alex
Tyler L
Jonathan P
Ahmad
Matt (drinks)
Collins M

Tue 3/31 @ Gaffney

Wearing white jersey or white t-shirt:

Seth
Drayton (drinks)
Brian
Hunter
Jordan
Jon C
Duncan
Tyler L
Jon P
Michael (snacks)
Collins M
Key
Ahmad
Tyler H

Wed 4/1 @ South Pointe

Wearing Purple jersey or grey t-shirt:

Seth
Drayton
Brian
Hunter
Jordan
Jon C (snacks)
Duncan
Alex (drinks)
Tyler L
Jon P
Michael
Ahmad

Fort Mill's Courts are Unplayable Today

Tonight's match has been cancelled. We rescheduled with Fort Mill for Monday 4/6.

We'll meet in the mini gym at 4:15 - 5:45 for indoor workouts tonight. Hopefully the weather will clear for tomorrow and we can actually get some hitting in, however the forecast is bleak for tomorrow as well. The same schedule will apply tomorrow in the mini gym if it rains again.

Go Trojans!

Clover Match Gets Started

Well, we get an A for effort today. Clover's coach and I talked around noon and decided it would be a rain out. A couple hours later the skies cleared and we talked again and decided to try to squeeze our match in before it started raining again.

As luck would have it, it started misting on our way over. We got our matches started and the mist became drizzle. Before any sets were completed, the courts were unsafe to continue and play was halted. Dinner at Courtney's BBQ afterward sort of made up for a wasted trip over to Clover.

We'll travel back over to Clover on Monday to finish this match up. We were leading at 1 singles, tied at 5 singles, and leading at 2 doubles when play stopped. It could be an interesting finish on Monday!

Tomorrow, we'll assume were playing at Fort Mill. The storms in the area are supposed to stay with us through Saturday though. I told the boys that traveled:

1) Bring your uniform/match equipment as if we are playing at Fort Mill and the bus will leave at 4:15.

2) Bring practice clothes in case it rains out. If it rains, we'll be in the mini gym to work out.

I'm going to have an announcement tomorrow afternoon at the school either way so I don't confuse everyone as much as I did today. If non-travel players miss a rain out practice tomorrow - no big deal.

Go Trojans!

Ft Mill travel roster:

Seth
Drayton
Brian
Hunter
Jordan
Jonathan C
Duncan
Alex
Tyler L
Jonathan P
Ahmad
Matt
Collins M

Tonight's Clover match rained out

Due to the storms in the area, we are rescheduling our match with Clover for Monday March 30. Those players assigned to drinks/snacks will be in charge on Monday.

Tonight we will have a conditioning session at 4:15 PM in the B Building Mini-Gym. The session should only last until 5:45 or 6 at the latest.

Go Trojans!

Trojans defeat York Cougars in Region match

We played our best tennis of the year tonight against York. From top to bottom I was extremely pleased not only by the result, but by how we carried ourselves against York tonight.

Our first win of the night came courtesy of Hunter Love at 4 singles. Hunter outlasted his opponent all match long and scored a 6-1, 6-1 victory.

Jordan Beaver finished second with another Trojan win at 5 singles. The first set was closer than the score reflected, but Jordan pulled away to claim victory by score of 6-2, 6-1.

Seth Russell played his best tennis of the year at 1 singles. His York opponent is one that gave us problems last year at times. Seth never let him get into any rhythm and secured a dominant 6-2, 6-0 victory.

Brian Fitzpatrick claimed our clinching point at 3 singles in his first season win. It seemed all was in hand for Brian after a stellar first set by score of 6-3. The wheels came loose, but not off, as Brian dropped the second set 6-2. The decisive tiebreaker went back and forth and Brian came from behind in the end to win it 10-8.

Our doubles team of Jonathan Clark and Duncan Foy won their first match as a doubles team. Their opponents played a smart game and were very aggressive at the net. In the end, they outfought York to get our fifth point of the night.

Drayton Wade claimed his first win of the season at 2 singles. A close first set went in Drayton's favor 7-5. Drayton then rolled through the second set to get our sixth point.

Drayton and Seth teamed up at doubles tonight. It was decent practice for our upcoming matches against region heavyweights Clover and Fort Mill. An 8-4 proset win was proably closer than it should have been against the York team.

Our reserve players dominated action tonight and everyone claimed a win. Doubles teams tonight were Alex & Tyler L, Jon P & Collins, Chris & Key, Matt & Ahmad, Tyler H & Jacob, and Caleb & Phillip.

We travel to Clover tomorrow and Fort Mill Thursday. Bus trips leave from the tennis courts at 4:15 pm and the 12 players on the trip need to be dressed and ready by 4:10.

Tomorrow after the Clover match, we'll swing by Courtney's BBQ for a post game meal. Please bring along 10 bucks or so to cover your meal cost. Players may ride home with their parents if they don't wish to eat, but it would be your loss...Courtney's is good!!!

Go Trojans!

Box Score:

1s: Seth Russell def Chris Suggs 6-2, 6-0
2s: Drayton Wade def Jensen Fisk 7-5, 6-1
3s: Brian Fitzpatrick def Kyle Spears 6-3, 2-6, 10-8
4s: Hunter Love def Nathan Patrick 6-1, 6-1
5s: Jordan Beaver def Charley Lawson 6-2, 6-1

1d: Russell/Wade def Suggs/Fisk 8-4
2d: Jonathan Clark/Duncan Foy def Patrick Burnett/Adam Thomas 6-4, 6-3