Monday, March 01, 2010

PRCC tennis opens with ECCC split
Wildcats win 6-3, Lady ’Cats lose 6-3

    POPLARVILLE — Pearl River’s women’s and men’s tennis teams opened their 2010 schedule Feb. 22 here against East Central.
    In their opening match of the 2010 season, the Lady Wildcats started out strong, taking two of the three doubles matches.
    At the No. 2 doubles position, former West Marion High School teammates and sophomore team members Alyssa Wolfe of Sandy Hook and Kristen Barber of Foxworth defeated Rachel Ramirez and Samantha Elkins of East Central 8-5.
    Freshmen team members Emily Leverett of Raymond and Kenyatta Epps of Yazoo City paired up for the No. 3 doubles position and defeated East Central's Anna Alexander and Ashley Walker, 8-0.
    The No. 1 doubles team of sophomore Kasey King of Purvis and freshman Janae Norwood of Hattiesburg were unable to close out the victory, falling to Elise Gibbs and Abby McMillan 8-4. In singles action, last year's state singles finalist, Barber was able to get one more point for the Lady Wildcats by defeating East Central's Alexander at the No. 4 position, 6-1, 6-1.
    At the No. 1 position, King fell to Gibbs 6-0, 6-0. Norwood was defeated by McMillan 6-2, 6-1, at the No. 2 position. Wolfe lost the No. 3 singles spot, 6-2, 6-4, to Ramirez. At No. 5, Leverett fell to Elkins, 6-2, 6-3. Freshman Brookes McInnis of Brooklyn was defeated at the No. 6 singles position by Walker, 6-0, 6-2. The East Central Lady Warriors claimed the day with a 6-3 victory. The Wildcat ssquad got off to a strong start, taking the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles matches.
    Freshman Blake Johnson of Lumberton paired up with sophomore Steven Bracey of Columbia for the No. 1 spot, defeating East Central's Colton Amis and Jason Hancock 8-4.
    At the N o. 2 position, freshman Jordan Henry of Petal and Darnelle Sanford of Hattiesburg defeated Will Marston and Richie Ferguson of East Central 8-4. In his freshman year of competition, Dustin Slade of Waveland partnered up with sophomore Roy Odom of Gautier at the No. 3 doubles spot. A close match, the team was unable to clinch the win, falling to East Central's Matt Griffin and Zac White in a tiebreaker 8-9(6). In singles action, the Wildcats collected four more victories to claim the win. Bracey defeated Marston at the No. 2 position, 6-3, 6-2. Henry defeated White at the No. 3 position, 6-4, 6-3. Sanford defeated Hancock at the No. 4 position, 4-6, 6-2, (10-3). Slade defeated Griffin at the No. 6 position 7-6(5), 6-4.
    The remaining two matches came down to tiebreak losses. Johnson fell at the No. 1 position to Amis, 2-6, 6-2, (10-7), and Odom was defeated at the No. 5 position by Smith, 6-4, 3-6, (10-7). The Pearl River Wildcats took the win for the day, 6-3 over the East Central Warriors.