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By Brian Pitts

Enterprise Record

One week after losing 5-4 to West Forsyth, Davie’s tennis team got back on track with a 5-4 win over Mt. Tabor on March 17.

Three days before the pivotal match at Tabor, Davie had a breezy 9-0 home win over Parkland. Burke Rosenbaum (6-0, 6-0), C Crenshaw (6-0, 6-0), Bryce Bailey (6-0, 6-0), Seth Hill (6-2, 6-1), Jack Williams (6-1, 6-0), Aiden Froelich (win by default), Hayden Key/Slade Keaton (8-3), Froelich/Zach Hill (8-3) and Barrett Taylor/Sean Lane (win by default) had the wins against the downtrodden Mustangs.

Then came the first Davie-Tabor showdown since 2017.

“Most folks thought either Tabor or West was the team to beat in the league, so we knew going over there would be tough,” coach Shane Nixon said. “Add to that the fact that we were missing two starters to band concert stuff, and this was going to be tough.”

Rosenbaum, Davie’s top seed, won with an incredible display. That the junior triumphed was hardly news; he has never lost in the CPC. The remarkable thing was the margin (6-2, 6-2) against Tabor’s Adam Cartwright.

“Burke put on a clinic,” Nixon said. “The kid he played is so good. Tabor’s No. 1 hits it so hard and with so much pace. He and Burke know each other well and play together in doubles in tournaments. Burke said to me before the match that he had never beaten Adam when it mattered. He played so well.”

Senior C Crenshaw and Tabor’s No. 2 threw haymaker after haymaker. When the fierce battle was over, Crenshaw was a 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) winner.

At No. 3, junior Bryce Bailey found himself behind 3-0 in the first set. He was unfazed, winning 6-3, 6-0.   

“C and Bryce both played extremely well,” Nixon said. “Both guys had to fight through stuff. C was in a dogfight from the jump. He plays with such emotion, I knew once he got that first set that things were in good shape.

“Bryce got off to the slowest of starts. But when I went to speak to him at the changeover, he just said, ‘I got this, coach.’ And boy did he. He won 12 straight games.”

It was 3-3 after singles, the same score as the match against West Forsyth. But this time Davie prevailed in doubles. Rosenbaum/Crenshaw rolled 8-3, and Froelich/Bailey crushed Tabor 6-1 (retired).

“When you win 5-4, you know a couple guys did things that helped even if they lost,” Nixon said. “Zach Hill and Key, two freshmen playing in their first real matches, made Tabor guys work hard, which made a difference in doubles. Aiden could have folded after a 1-6 first set, but he fought for every point. I love how Aiden just refuses to give in.”

Notes: Davie is 5-1 overall and 4-1 in the CPC “in what is supposed to be a rebuilding year,” Nixon said. “I’m pretty happy with where we are.” … Rosenbaum, Crenshaw and Bailey are all 6-0 in singles. Rosenbaum and Crenshaw are 5-0 at No. 1 doubles. … Crenshaw is 34-8 in his singles career, while Rosenbaum is 27-2.