LAURINBURG — The Lady Scots tennis team hasn’t backed down from stiff competition this season — win or lose, they have used it as a learning experience. The Lady Scots added a few more tokens of wisdom to their bank on Tuesday when they hosted the defending SEC champion Pinecrest Patriots.
For the second time this season, the Lady Scots were swept by the Lady Patriots, 9-0. The matches weren’t as close as when the teams met earlier this month, but the Lady Scots held their own and got their shots in.
The longest and most contested match of the afternoon was on the fourth singles court between Brooke Bathie and Pinecrest’s Claudia Ray. The two had several back-and-forth volleys and resulted in match lasting almost two hours. Ray had a strong serve, but that didn’t stop Bathie from hitting some well-placed return shots.
Ray took the first set from Bathie, 6-3 but as the September sun continued to beat down on the two athletes the playing field leveled. Bathie had an answer for almost all of Ray’s shots, but couldn’t battle through for a win falling in the second set, 6-4.
After a marathon singles match, Bathie then went back on the court to play second doubles with Claire Carter as they took on Pinecrest’s Emily Hodges and Isabella King. The Lady Scots duo kept the match interesting with short net shots to keep the Lady Patriots off balance. The strategy worked for the first part of the match, but Pinecrest quickly regained their ground to take the match, 8-6.
Scotland’s other singles matches had some high points with good shot placement and smart hitting but not enough to come away with a win.
At first singles, Scotland’s Camryn Ellis took on Pinecrest’s Caroline Landry. The two exchange a number of cross court shots, that left shot drenched in sweat. Ellis eventually fell to the younger Landry sister, 6-0, 6-2. The Lady Scots Claire Carter took on the older Landry sister Emma Gentry Landry in second singles action. Carter had several good gentle over the net shots that helped her through the first set. Carter fell to E.G. Landry in two sets, 6-1, 6-1.
On the third singles court, Anna Griswold took on Pinecrest’s Chappy Ray. Griswold was having difficulty with her serve, which seemed to throw her whole game plan off. Griswold dropped her match to Ray, 6-1, 6-0. Fifth and six singles for the Lady Scots were back-to-back straight set losses. Cheyanne Strong fell to Pinecrest’s Lizzy McClymont, 6-0, 6-0 and Samantha Bowen lost to Pinecrest’s Maddie Arrington, 6-0, 6-0.
Strong then took the court with Grace McIntrye to play third singles for the Lady Scots against Pinecrest’s Charlotte Ix and Clare Murden. The Lady Scots duo were a bit off their game as shots fell right in front of them and they swung and missed several balls. Strong and McIntrye lost their match 8-2.
The Lady Scots final doubles duo of Ellis and Griswold also dropped their match to Pinecrest’s McClymont and Arrington, 8-3.
After being swept by Pinecrest, the Lady Scots bounced back on Wednesday to top Purnell Swett 9-0 in a make-up match from last week. Heavy rains forced both of the Lady Scots to cancel both of last week’s matches. Their non-conference match against Cape Fear won’t be made up.
The loss rocketed the Lady Scots to up their game against the Lady Rams — with two-set victories across the board. This was the second time this season the Lady Scots have swept Purnell.
The Lady Scots Camryn Ellis topped Purnell’s Brooke Huggins, 6-2, 6-0 in first singles action. Claire Carter picked up a win over Purnell’s Kari Brooks, 6-0, 6-1 and Scotland’s Anna Griswold found her groove to beat Purnell’s Abi Lowry in two sets, 6-2, 6-1.
On the fourth singles court, Brooke Bathie made quick work of Purnell’s Malina Cummings, taking the match 6-1, 6-2. Cheyanne Strong and Samantha Bowen finished the singles sweep for the Lady Scots. Strong topped Purnell’s McKenzie Cummings, 6-3, 6-0 and Bowen earned a 6-3, 6-0 win over Purnell’s Harlie Scott.
The Lady Scots doubles teams followed suit as Ellis and Griswold defeated Purnell’s Brooke Huggins and Kari Brooks, 8-2; Carter and Bathie earned an 8-1 win over Purnell’s Abi Lowry and Malina Cummings and Strong and Grace McIntrye finished out the match with an 8-2 win over Purnell’s McKenzie Cummings and Harlie Scott.
The split moved the Lady Scots to 7-4 overall and 4-3 in SEC play with just two more matches before the conference tournament.
The Lady Scots will travel to Lumberton on Tuesday, Oct. 4 before hosting Richmond on Thursday, Oct. 6. Both matches are set to begin at 4 p.m.
Amber Hatten can be reached at 910-506-3170.
