PANTHER CREEK PAIR WINS 4TH STRAIGHT DOUBLES 4-A STATE TITLE, WAKEFIELD’S BOYDEN EARNS 3rd STRAIGHT SINGLES CROWN
RALEIGH – Two championship streaks were extended on Saturday in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state 4-A women’s tennis championships on Friday at the Millbrook Exchange Park.
Sammi Smith and Jordan Strickland of Cary Panther Creek captured their fourth consecutive doubles state championship, and Raleigh Wakefield’s Suzanne Boyden won the singles crown for the third year in a row.
Smith and Strickland clinched their fourth and final state title with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Lizzie Galush and Jenna Knors of Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons, after the Panther Creek duo did not drop a single game in a sweep past Caroline Igo and Summer Jacobs of Gibbons in a morning semifinal.
The only time that feat of four straight titles has been accomplished in doubles was by Lisa and Margit Monaco of Fayetteville Terry Sanford in 1977-80, when the tournament was an open event.
Boyden earned her third straight title by beating Panther Creek’s Amanda Cyr in the singles final, 6-3, 6-0.
Wake County had a strong showing in the 4-A championships, as all four of the doubles teams in the semifinals were from schools located in Wake County and two of the four singles semifinalists.
NORTH CAROLINA HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
2015 4-A WOMEN’S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Millbrook Exchange Park, Raleigh
SATURDAY’S RESULTS
Singles—Semifinals
Amanda Cyr (Cary Panther Creek) def. Maddie Weber (Charlotte Myers Park) 6-2, 6-1; Suzanne Boyden (Raleigh Wakefield) def. Lauren Gish (Lake Norman) 6-2, 6-1.
Singles—Championship
Boyden (Wakefield) def. Cyr (Panther Creek) 6-3, 6-0.
Doubles—Semifinals
Lizzie Galush-Jenna Knors (Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons) def. Sibel Tanik-Sofia Anthony (Raleigh Sanderson) 6-4, 7-5; Sammi Smith-Jordan Strickland (Cary Panther Creek) def. Caroline Igo-Summer Jacobs (Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons) 6-0, 6-0.
Doubles—Championship
Smith-Strickland (Panther Creek) def. Galush-Knors (Cardinal Gibbons) 6-3, 6-2.