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By Brian Pitts
Enterprise Record

The doubles team of Casey Cao and Kate Chaffin came within an eyelash of producing a Davie-vs.-Davie doubles final in the CPC Tournament. It did not happen because Cao/Chaffin valiantly fell short in a third-set tiebreaker in the semifinals.
But the War Eagles, who went 14-0 in the regular season and ended up with the singles and doubles champions, can’t have everything. If they did, as a wise man once asked, where would they put it?
Davie hosted the tournament on Oct. 8.
Senior Elliot Newsome and the doubles team of junior Bailey Aderhold/sophomore Corbin Drum added to their legendary seasons by walking away with the singles and doubles titles, respectively. And they did it by pounding everyone into oblivion.
“We dropped fewer than 10 games to win both championships, which really shows how impressive the top three for me have been this year, and I’m definitely not taking that for granted,” coach Collin Ferebee said.
As everyone expected, Newsome destroyed all four opponents. It was a golden moment after having to settle for runner-up in 2023, when West Forsyth’s Sam McEachran capped a 58-0 CPC career with her fourth singles title.
“It was a complete performance from her from beginning to end,” Ferebee said. “I did not want it to get in her head that she was supposed to win this, but there were no nerves. She went out and took care of business. It was an absolutely dominating performance. I’m really proud of her to go out that way.”
Newsome’s scores were 10-0; 10-0; 6-1, 6-0; and 6-2, 6-1. She rose to 18-0 and notched her second CPC championship. (She teamed up with Leslie Newsom to claim the doubles crown in 2022.)
“That was Laura Becker-level of dominance, and that’s good company to be in,” Ferebee said. “She’s gotten more aggressive this year and she’s definitely increased the pace on her first serve and her forehand. But she’s not what I would call a big hitter. She’s a consistently solid hitter, but her game is like the female version of Burke (Rosenbaum). She’s not going to hit you off the court, but she’s going to put the ball where she wants every single time and she’s going to place you to death basically.”
Newsome’s run and Aderhold/Drum’s 4-0 march to a repeat championship in doubles were mirror images. They destroyed their doubles competition 10-0; 10-0; 6-1, 6-1; and 6-2, 6-2. They pushed their perfect record to 12-0 after going 5-1 in 2023.
“They crushed everyone; they were just about as dominant as Elliot,” Ferebee said. “At no point was I even mildly worried.”
Cao/Chaffin cruised into the semifinals – and thus punched their ticket to the regional – with 10-0 and 10-4 victories. They gave the eventual runner-ups – the No. 1 team from Reynolds – absolute fits before losing 2-6, 7-6, 5-10. After that grueling setback, they dominated the third-place match 6-2, 6-1 to run their sparkling season record to 10-1.
“It was really close to being a Davie-Davie doubles final,” Ferebee said. “To finish third as my third doubles team highlights how strong we were this year. (For Chaffin) to be a freshman and qualify for regionals, that doesn’t happen too often. I was really proud of them for rebounding from a tough loss.”
Four more War Eagles competed. Leah Gibson won 10-0 before losing 10-3 to West’s top seed. The top five earned regional berths and Gibson didn’t quite make it, although she had a strong sophomore season (12-4 record at three and four).
“I said: ‘Hey, you should be proud. You played really well (against the girl from West),’” Ferebee said. “Leah said: ‘I’m really happy. I think I did really good.’ It was one of those matches she lost, but she had so many positives.”
Ola Leszczuk went 1-1 as well, winning 10-2 and losing 10-0. Those were actually the first singles matches of the year for the freshman, who went 8-1 in doubles while playing with six different partners.
Sophomores Lena Parsley and Bethany Jacobs lost 10-0 in the first round. They went 3-1 on the season.