By By BRIAN HAINES, Sports Writer
The Pam Pack’s perfect season came to a halt on Tuesday as it ran into a buzz saw named Union Pines in the N.C. High School Athletic Association 3-A Dual Team Tennis Tournament.
The Washington tennis team that had dominated opponents all year long en route to a perfect 18-0 regular season record and a Coastal Conference championship, was overmatched by a Vikings team that entered the tournament having won a whopping 97 of its 99 matches played this season.
Union Pines (11-0), the winners of the Cape Fear Conference, were powered by No. 1 seed Neena Wanko. Wanko has received a scholarship to play for East Carolina University, and looked like she could start tomorrow as she dominated Washington’s previously undefeated No. 1 seed Beth Batchelor winning 6-0, 6-1.
“She was really good, she was a challenge,” Batchelor said. “She had spin on every shot she hit and she could cross-court it really good.”
The rest of the Pam Pack netters didn’t fair much better as they lost 7-2 in the first round of the tournament.
With the defeat also came a sense of pride for the Pack as it handed the Vikings losses in two matches on Tuesday, just as many as they had all season.
Sixth-seed Shannon Niederhauser won her match 6-4, 6-4 over Brittany Jones. Niederhauser also handed the Vikings their second loss of the day when she teamed up with D’Lorah Pierce to top Laura Cameron and Jones 7-5 in doubles play.
“I was pleased with our effort today,” Washington co-coach Beth Pippin said. “I think they played well. I don’t think anybody ever gave up, a lot of the games were closer than the scores indicate.”
Union Pines left Washington with a 105-4 record on the season, and co-coach Michelle Elks said that she was proud her team could put a dent in the Vikings’ record.
“I’m very proud of that for our girls,” Elks said. “Our girls came into this match believing they could win. I think the good thing about today is that its encouraging for our girls to see that we can compete at that level. (Union Pines) plays all year round, and that is something that we are stressing to our younger players.”
Senior Hayley Stowe, a player that the younger netters can look up to, showed the value of persistence as she hung with the Vikings’ No. 2 seed Melissa Talley in a marathon match before losing 7-5, 6-1.
For Stowe, like Batchelor, it was her first loss of the season. Stowe said Talley was fundamentally sound and featured a strong forehand and backhand shot.
“She had a lot of top-spin and could place the ball where she wanted,” Stowe said. “Both her shots were really strong, so you couldn’t really pick a side to go after. Most players you can pick a side to attack, but with her there was no weaker side.”
Washington’s No. 3 seed Janie Page lost her battle with Jordan Smith 6-1, 6-1, while No. 4 seed Pierce fell to Madison Kramer 6-4, 6-2. Tierra Locklear hung tough with No. 5 seed Laura Cameron, but was downed 6-4, 6-2.
In doubles play, Batchelor and Stowe lost to Wanko and Smith 6-3, while Page and Locklear fell to Kramer and Talley 6-1.
While the question of who the better team was got answered on the court, the question that couldn’t be answered was why did two undefeated conference champions play each other in the first round of the tournament.
Washington, which hasn’t finished undefeated since Elks was a member of the team that did it 23 years ago, was rewarded for its perfection by having to play a powerhouse Union Pines team.
Both of Washington’s coaches, as well as Vikings’ coach John Frye had no idea how the pairings were selected and all three were equally confused by the first-round matchup.
“I don’t think I have ever heard of two undefeated teams meeting in the first round of the playoffs,” Elks said. “Both teams were very shocked by this. D.H. Conley was the No. 2 seed out of our conference and they actually got a much better pairing (Currituck) then we did . … It’s frustrating and I think it was a little bit of a downer for our girls, but they kept their chin up and we tried not to make a big deal of it.”
As a whole, the Pam Pack season has come to an end, however, six players have qualified for the regional competition which will begin on Friday.
Batchelor and Stowe will be competing in the singles tournament, while doubles partners Page and Locklear along with Pierce and Niederhauser will also be in the tournament. The regional competition will be played Friday at Barton College.