CARY—Top-seeded defending champion Britney Cloer of Brevard moved into the semifinals of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state 2-A women’s tennis championships by sweeping two Friday matches at the Cary Tennis Center.

Cloer lost only two games in taking a pair of easy victories and will take on fourth-seeded Nancy Reilly of Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons in the semifinals. Second-seeded Emily Mathis of Wilkes Central, who won the 2-A singles crown as a freshman in 2002 and was on the runner-up doubles team last year, takes on North Rowan’s Allie Mills in the other semifinal Saturday morning.

Some marathon matches highlighted singles play. Mills outlasted Abby Richmond of Edenton Holmes in three sets and Tarboro’s Mara Evans defeated Salisbury’s Susie Wear in a three-setter, both of which lasted three hours and 45 minutes.

All four of the top seeds marched into the double semifinals, with Greene Central’s top-seeded pair of Meredith Rouse and Brittany Horton dropping only four games in four sets. Their Greene Central teammates, Christi Murphy and Ashley Harrell, advanced to the semifinals in the opposite bracket.

The championship matches are scheduled for Saturday afternoon.

NORTH CAROLINA HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION

2005 WOMEN’S STATE 2-A TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Cary Tennis Center, Cary

Singles—First Round

Britney Cloer (Brevard) def. Kelly Fields (St. Pauls) 6-0, 6-1; Mara Evans (Tarboro) def.

Susie Wear (Salisbury) 7-5, 4-6, 6-4; Nancy Reilly (Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons) def. Emily Perkins (Surry Central) 6-0, 6-0; Kathleen Olson (Swansboro) def.Jordan Kinney (North Lincoln) 6-1, 6-2; Grace Whiteley (Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons) def. Davis Clare Hyett (Brevard) 6-2, 6-2; Allie Mills (North Rowan) def. Abby Richmond (Edenton Holmes) 7-6(8), 2-6, 6-3; Meredith Weisler (Salisbury) def. Cuyler Wells (Kill Devil Hills First Flight)7-6 (2), 6-4; Emily Mathis (Wilkes Central) def. Rukshona Usmanova (Durham School of Arts) 6-1, 6-1.

Singles—Quarterfinals

Cloer (Brevard) def. Evans (Tarboro) 6-1, 6-0; Reilly (Cardinal Gibbons) def. Olson (Swansboro) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3; Mills (North Rowan) def. Whiteley (Cardinal Gibbons) 6-4, 6-2; Mathis (Wilkes Central) def. Weisler (Salisbury) 6-0, 6-1.

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Singles—Semifinals

Britney Cloer (Brevard) vs. Nancy Reilly (Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons)

Allie Mills (North Rowan) vs. Emily Mathis (Wilkes Central)

Doubles—First Round

Meredith Rouse-Brittany Horton (Greene Central) def. Casey Duncan-Christina Collins (Salisbury) 6-2, 6-1; Katherine Pardue-Shana Spencer (Boonville Starmount) def. Miranda Spain-Genelle Wilson (Tarboro) 7-5. 6-0; Hollyn Alberghini-Emily Morton (West Stanly) def. Katie Parrish-Lauren Williams (Edenton Holmes) 6-2, 6-2;

Ivey Tant-Lorna Vega (Ashe County) def. Kathleen McReynolds-Sarah Hughes (Swansboro) 6-0, 6-0; Anna Winslow-Sara Lilley (Pasquotank) def. Ashley Auman-Allyson Frick (Lexington) 6-2, 6-3; Christi Murphy-Ashley Harrell (Greene Central) def. Sarah Brown-Laura Rollins (Wilkes Central) 7-5, 6-3; Chris Leonard-Ellen Emerson (Salisbury) def. Meredith Pierson-Paten Carlton (East Duplin) 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (2); Betsy Martin-Erin Mode (Shelby) def. Alice Smith-Maria Tergliafera (West Stokes) 6-4, 6-4.

Doubles—Quarterfinals

Rouse-Horton (Greene Central) def. Pardue-Spencer (Starmount) 6-0, 6-1; Alberghini-Morton (West Stanly) def. Tanta-Vega (Ashe County) 6-3, 6-4; Murphy-Harrell (Greene Central) def. Winslow-Lilley (Pasquotank) 6-0, 6-0; Martin-Mode (Shelby) def. Leonard-Emerson (Salisbury) 6-1, 6-3.

Doubles—Semifinals

Meredith Rouse-Brittany Horton (Greene Central) vs. Hollyn Alberghini-Emily Morton (West Stanly)

Betsy Martin-Erin Mode (Shelby) vs. Christi Murphy-Ashley Harrell (Greene Central)