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By Brian Pitts

Enterprise Record

Reynolds and Reagan are supposed to be the biggest CPC challenges for Davie’s tennis team.

The War Eagles obliterated Reynolds 8-1 on Aug. 19. They had a repeat performance against visiting Reagan on Aug. 26, winning again by an 8-1 margin.

The War Eagles have gotten so good that their matches have become laughers. Coach Collin Ferebee’s job now is to make sure his girls don’t get fat and sassy.

“I told them: ‘Hey, great win tonight. I told you our first two big tests of the year are Reynolds and Reagan. You passed those but the season’s just starting. We can’t let complacency come in, but there’s some good things happening if we keep working’,” Ferebee said after the Reagan match. “I think we have a team where complacency is not going to be a problem.”

Davie swept singles. Elliot Newsome (6-1, 6-1), Corbin Drum (6-3, 6-2), Bailey Aderhold (6-0, 6-0), Leah Gibson (6-1, 6-3), Casey Cao (6-0, 6-1) and Kate Chaffin (5-7, 6-1, 10-8) posted a quick 6-0 score.

It was a fierce match on court six, where Chaffin rallied after dropping the first set and remained undefeated as a freshman. “If you didn’t tell anyone and you just saw the way both of them were hitting, you would have thought it was a three- or four-seed match,” Ferebee said. “On paper it was a six seed match, but they were playing at a much higher level of tennis than that. To lose a tight first set and then come back and win 6-1 in the second, there’s something to be said about her mental game.”

In doubles, Newsome/Gibson won 8-1 and Drum/Aderhold won 8-3 as Davie extended its winning streak over Reagan to seven.

Since starting the season at No. 6, Aderhold has gone nuts, climbing all the way up the ladder to three. “She didn’t have a great tryout, but it wasn’t just that Bailey wasn’t playing great,” he said. “It’s that the other girls really worked in the offseason and improved.

“I told them before the season: We’ve got seven starters for six spots. Somebody’s not going to be happy, but you have to understand at the end of the day, we’re one team with one goal. And no one’s complained and no one’s cried and pitched a fit. They have all made everyone better in practice.”

Davie 8, Tabor 1

Davie kicked more butt when it hosted Mt. Tabor on Aug. 28. Newsome (6-0, 6-0), Drum (6-2, 6-0), Aderhold (6-4, 2-1 retired), Cao (6-2, 6-0) and Chaffin (6-0, 6-0) clinched victory in singles. Drum/Aderhold (8-3), Newsome/Ola Lezczuk (8-0) and Cao/Chaffin (8-0) swept doubles.

“At practice and after the match, I said: ‘Do you know what a good player who wins on an off day is called? You’re a great player because the difference between good and great is you can win when it’s not your best’,” Ferebee said. “In this match, you saw that because they didn’t play great but got the win.”

The only loss was Gibson and her opponent at No. 4 and it went for two hours, 17 minutes. The scores were 6-7, 6-4, 3-10. “(Gibson’s) really improved a ton,” he said. “If she continues to use this as a learning process and see what she can improve on, I think she’s going to take that and run with it because Leah is one who reflects on herself in a positive way. And I think she can absolutely turn it around.”

Gibson’s marathon match kept her out of doubles, so Ferebee moved Lezczuk up to No. 2 and plugged in Cao at No. 3.

“I talked to Ola and I said: ‘Hey, if you want to play today, you’ve got to play up and play with Elliot at two,’” he said. “She said: ‘I like being on the same side of the net as her.’”

Notes: Davie (5-0 overall, 4-0 CPC) has outscored opponents 42-3. … Davie has 11 straight wins over Tabor. … Five singles players have 5-0 records: Newsome, Drum, Aderhold, Cao and Chaffin.