Photo Credit: Brianna Hales[/caption]Wednesday, October 8, the OHS varsity women's tennis team competed against the other six schools in the Big Eight Conference in the 2014 conference tournament held at Orange High School. The team took only a few players, including Beth Bryan, Leila Andrews, Laura Hegemann, Brooke Asbury, Ezra Tennant, Michaela Shriner, and Hannah Link. The players competed individually or as a doubles team against the other schools in the conference in randomly decided brackets.
Doubles team Tennant and Asbury and singles player Leila Andrews, all sophomores, lost their first matches against Cedar Ridge and Northern Vance, respectively, knocking them out of conference play and ending their 2014 season for Orange. However, Laura Hegemann won her first round of singles in a very close tie-breaker game with a score of 8-6 over Chapel Hill to advance into the quarter-finals where she lost 5-10 to Jenna Proctor from Cedar Ridge. Doubles team Bryan and Shriner won their first and second matches over Northern Vance and Northwood to advance to the semi-finals in conference and to secure a spot in the regional tournament.
Senior tennis players Michaela Shriner, Hannah Link, and Beth Bryan pose on their senior night. Photo Credit: Brooke Asbury[/caption]By Hannah Link
It was a sad night for the Orange High School women’s tennis team on Wednesday, October 1 as the three seniors played on their home court for the last time during the regular season. The season may have been coming to an end, but the underclassmen on the team weren’t about to let the seniors leave without a bang.
Festivities kicked off Wednesday morning during school as the team joined together in wearing tie-dye T-shirts made in honor of Senior Night by some underclassmen on the team. “We love our seniors,” said sophomore Brooke Asbury. “We couldn’t bear the thought of not doing something special for them.” The seniors are having a hard time coping with the occasion. “It’ll be really hard to leave our team,” said senior Michaela Shriner. “We’re all so close; we’re basically a family.” The love for the seniors this year could be seen all over the court. Posters and signs hung from the fence and every player wore their tie-dyed T-shirts during the match.
The efforts made by the underclassmen weren’t the only thing that was sweet--the victory was too. Orange took a big 7-2 win over Oxford Webb in their last home match of the season, something the players and the coach were proud of. “We worked really hard tonight and, despite all of the food and candy the girls ate, we still worked hard and played really well,” said coach Andy Brown.
The team will go to Cedar Ridge High School on Monday, October 6 to take on the rival Red Wolves in their last regular season match before the Big Eight Conference tournament Wednesday, October 8.
Jessica Scott hits a backhand. Photo Credit: Yearbook Staff.[/caption]The women’s tennis team celebrated senior night on Tuesday, October 8, after it was canceled on Monday due to rain. The team faced a tough match against rival, Cedar Ridge High School, and lost 0-9. Even with the loss, the team remained in high spirits enjoying their last match of the season. At 4:15 pm the senior night festivities started and at 4:30 pm the matches began.
To recognize the seniors, Coach Andy Brown called out each senior onto the courts one by one to be joined by their teammates and parents. He thanked them for their participation, mentioned their post-high school plans, and gave them a flower. The seniors on the team were Kiana Bell, Jessica Scott, Mary Katherine Dougherty, Skylar Crabtree, and Brianna Hales. Skylar Crabtree said, "[Senior night] was amazing. My favorite part was when Coach Brown did the curly shuffle." At the end of the ceremony Coach Brown demonstrated a dance called the curly shuffle to the team.
Every year, the underclassmen plan senior night for the teammates graduating. They contributed by making posters for each senior and the foreign exchange student, Ines Soffer, since this will be her only year playing on the team. Parents of the seniors brought food for all the players to enjoy. The team continued the celebration at Tokyo Express, where they ate out and enjoyed their last night together. Jessica Scott said, "[Senior night] was a bittersweet moment for me. I have been blessed to have a caring and loving team this season and a fantastic coach...I'm so thankful for the awesome season we had."
Although this was the last match of the season, the conference tournament was held at OHS on Wednesday, October 9 at 1 pm. Kiana Bell and Beth Bryan both played singles matches against Northwood and Chapel Hill respectively and lost in the first round. Jessica Scott and Michaela Shriner played doubles and lost to Chapel Hill in the first round as well. Mary Katherine Dougherty and Brianna Hales played doubles against J.F. Webb and won, progressing to round two. They lost to Cedar Ridge.
The Orange High School women’s tennis team was expected to have three games during the short school week after Labor Day weekend. The Monday, September 3 match was canceled against Southern Durham because their school failed to have enough players to make a team. The team then played Chapel Hill High School and Eastern Alamance High School and suffered losses to both teams.
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Kiana Bell serving while practicing with Jessica Scott before their doubles match against Eastern Alamance[/caption]The OHS tennis team did not play Eastern Alamance last year so they were unsure what to expect out of the other team. The match was held on Friday, September 6, and Orange lost 3-6. Michaela Shriner, sixth seed, and Brianna Hales, fourth seed, both won their singles matches. Hales lost the first set 2-6 but won the second set 6-2 and then played a tie breaker winning 10-8. Shriner won her match 6-3, 6-4. Mary Katherine Dougherty and Hales won their second seeded doubles tennis match 8-3 in an eight game pro-set. Leila Andrews, usually fourth seed, and Beth Bryan, usually first seed, were both unable to play due to injuries. This caused players on the team to move up seeds and play against players that were ranked above them, which may have led to the close loss.
The Chapel Hill match was played Wednesday, September 4, and the Panthers lost 1-8. Kiana “Keke” Bell and Bryan won their first seeded tennis match against Lauren Su and Ria Das of Chapel Hill by 8-6 in an eight game pro-set. Chapel Hill easily clenched all six singles matches and the other two doubles matches.
Two matches will be held next week if weather permits. For the the first time the team will play Northwood High School away on Monday,
September 9. The Lady Panthers will take on Webb High School at home on Wednesday, September 11.
This year the team holds an overall record of 1-4. Three new schools have entered the 3A conference. They are Northwood, Southern Durham, and Cedar Ridge High School. All matches start at 4:30 pm unless otherwise noted. With an unusual amount of new players this year the team has roughly 20 players. Coach Andy Brown has split the team into Varsity and Junior Varsity.
- Beth Bryan follows through on her forehand during a match.
September 12, the OHS girl's tennis team played at Southern Vance’s court. While playing a singles match, the Panther’s third seed, sophomore Beth Bryan, injured her shoulder and was unable to continue the match. While hitting a lob in her singles match, Bryan felt her shoulder pop. She kept playing and ended up hurting her rotator cuff. Once this happened she was unable to continue playing and had to forfeit her match.
Bryan was also unable to play her doubles match with Orange High’s fourth seed, Mary Dougherty. Instead, Dougherty played the doubles match with sixth seed Brianna Hales. Dougherty and Hales won the match 8-0.
OHS came out victorious with a final combined score of 6-3. Bryan has recovered and is now able to continue playing. The home game on Monday, September 17, against Oxford Webb was cancelled due to weather and was rescheduled for Thursday, September 20. The Panthers were victorious with a 6-3 win.