A marathon week for the Washington tennis team ended with a marathon match but in the end it was all worth it as the Pam Pack added three wins to its record with the last one being a 6-3 victory over Coastal Conference rivals West Carteret on Thursday.
The Pam Pack’s three game stretch started on Tuesday with a win over West Craven and was followed by a victory over Edenton before Washington took on a feisty Patriots team. On Thursday, Washington found itself in three tiebreakers and was able to leg out all three to net the hat trick and coach Miranda Whitley said that spoke volumes about her team’s mindset.
“It says they’re tough,” Washington first-year coach Miranda Whitley said. “They work hard.”
Against the Pats, the Pam Pack breezed through its No. 1 and No. 2 seed matchups as Connor Wilkins downed Collin Batista 6-1, 6-2 and Luke Harris blew by Parker Heary 6-2, 6-1.
Holt McKeithan, the No. 3 seed, struggled in his match, falling 6-2, 7-5, leaving the match to be determined by bottom three seeds.
The lower seeds did not disappoint as No. 4 John Tate held off Henry Gregory 3-6, 6-4 (10-6), No. 5 Corson Buckman downed Greg Rixey 6-0, 6-2 and No. 6 Luke Ainsworth won a rollercoaster matchup with Cole Wagner 6-3, 0-6 (12-10) to give Washington a 4-2 lead heading into doubles play.
Ainsworth’s matchup was the most intriguing of the day as he got off to a blistering start before collapsing in the second set only to recover in time to get the win.
“He won that first set easily and I thought he was going to take it in straight sets so I went over and watched some of the other matches” Whitley said. “When I came back he was down 5-0 so I went over there and told him he’s just got to take it one point at a time and slow it down and keep it consistent.
“He played a tough tiebreak. He was winning 9-5 but his opponent fought back to make it 10 all, but he was able to get the final two points.”
Doubles play did not get any easier for Ainsworth as he and McKeithan battled neck-and-neck with Trevor Levy and Santos, but once again Washington would hold on to win another lengthy match as the duo picked up a 9-7 victory.
Wilkins and Harris also won their doubles matchup with a perfect 8-0 score, while Buckman and Tate fell 8-4.