NCHSAA STATE DUAL TEAM TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS SET FOR BURLINGTON
BURLINGTON – The North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s 18th annual state men’s dual team tennis championships will come to the Burlington Tennis Center on Saturday, with several familiar powers in tennis once again competing for state championships.
All four classification championships are scheduled for Saturday, with the 3-A and 4-A classifications starting at 9 a.m. and then the 1-A and 2-A to begin at noon. Most of the teams qualifying for the finals advanced with victories in the semifinal round on Thursday.
East Chapel Hill, the ’06 4-A champion and winner of six titles at the 3-A level, knocked off eight-time dual team champion Raleigh Broughton in a Thursday regional final. The Wildcats (21-4) move into the state championship match against Charlotte Ardrey Kell (17-0), a school in only its second year of existence.
Brendan O’Connor and Ryan Forbes of Ardrey Kell advanced to the state 4-A doubles semifinals last weekend.
The 3-A final sends unbeaten Southern Nash (26-0) against perennial power Charlotte Catholic (11-4). Catholic is a four-time champion (1992, ’97, 2004, 2005) while Southern Nash makes its first trip to the dual team finals.
Catholic’s Daniel Tobben lost to eventual state champion Jacob Wright of Asheville T.C. Roberson in the singles semifinals last weekend while the Charlotte Catholic doubles duo of Michael Huber and David Anderson also advanced into semifinal play before losing.
Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons and the Red Devils of Newton-Conover, will battle it out for the 2-A title in a rematch of last year’s title match, which Gibbons won 6-0. Cardinal Gibbons will once again be hard to beat, since the defending champs have both three-time individual singles champion Will Rollinson and two-time 2-A doubles champs Ryan Daly and Jonathan Fedorkwicz.
The 1-A final pits Durham’s North Carolina School of Science and Math (18-2) against Hendersonville (15-4).
Tyler Grove of Hendersonville earned the 1-A state singles championship in 2007 and was part of a state championship doubles team with Robert Beal last weekend.
NORTH CAROLINA HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
18th ANNUAL DUAL TEAM TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Burlington Tennis Center, Burlington
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Class 1-A: North Carolina School of Science and Math (18-2) vs. Hendersonville (15-4), noon
Class 2-A: Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons (25-0) vs. Newton-Conover (20-1), noon
Class 3-A: Southern Nash (26-0) vs. Charlotte Catholic (11-4), 9 am
Class 4-A: East Chapel Hill (21-4) vs. Charlotte Ardrey Kell (17-0), 9 am
NCHSAA FastFacts
Date: May 24, 2008
Site: Burlington Tennis Center, Burlington
First Held: 1991
Qualifiers: Eastern and Western champions meet for state title; 32 schools qualified for playoffs in each classification except 1-A (16)
Defending champions: 1-A: Hampstead Topsail; 2-A: Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons; 3-A: Statesville; 4-A: Charlotte Providence
Of Interest: East Chapel Hill won the 3-A championship in 2005 and the 4-A title in 2006.
Presenting Sponsors: Wendy’s and the Carolinas Ford Dealers
