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By Brian Pitts
Enterprise Record

The Davie tennis team turned in a thunderous win in the first round of the dual team state playoffs.
When the War Eagles pushed aside visiting Southeast Guilford 5-1, they stopped a five-match losing streak in the 4-A playoffs and notched their first postseason victory since 2016. Davie, seeded sixth in the West Region, was just 3-16 all-time in the playoffs before burying the 27th-seeded Falcons on Oct. 21.
It was a clinical dissection from Elliot Newsome (6-1, 6-0), Corbin Drum (6-1, 6-0), Bailey Aderhold (6-0, 6-0), Kate Chaffin (6-0, 6-0) and Casey Cao (6-1, 6-1) as Davie clinched victory in singles and continued to torpedo everyone in its path; the running score in its 15-0 record was 124-8.
“It was great,” coach Collin Ferebee said. “Bailey came off and said: ‘That is the best tennis I’ve played all year.’ That’s a great time to do it.
“I told the girls we’re in a elite company just by winning one because Davie has not won a lot in the playoffs.”
The win was significant for another reason: Ferebee became the 49-year-old program’s winningest coach at 95-24 in eight years. Sandra Boyette was No. 1 by going 94-46 over nine years from 2006-14.
“It took about an hour. We took care of business,” Ferebee said. “Their goal was to get further than last year, and we accomplished that on top of staying (CPC) champions.”
He gave player of the match to his top seed.
“I could’ve given it to everyone, but the reason I picked Elliot is we don’t get here without her leadership, her on-court experience and all that,” he said. “It was kind of a lifetime achievement player of the match.”
Davie’s only loser in singles was an under-the-weather Leah Gibson at No. 4.
“Leah did not win, but she was feeling kind of sick,” he said. “If she’s healthy, she wins.”
Catholic 6, Davie 0
The War Eagles’ run ended in the second round on Oct. 23 against visiting Charlotte Catholic. Although 11th-seeded Cougars shut out Davie, the War Eagles were not overwhelmed.
Newsome (3-6, 4-6), Aderhold (3-6, 3-6), Gibson (6-7, 0-6), Chaffin (4-6, 4-6) and Cao (4-6, 2-6) made their opponents work hard for the win.
“We had some administration and teachers watching, and all of them were like: ‘That was some impressive tennis to watch,’” Ferebee said. “It took two hours just to play singles. It was a heck of a battle against a really good team.”
The Cougars (19-3) extended their winning streak to 10.
“That’s a great school,” Ferebee said. “I think they have the most amount of state championships in general (in the state). We knew we were going to get a battle, and that’s absolutely what we got. I told the girls: ‘I don’t care what the score is. We know they’re good. You play until the last point and I’ll be happy.’ My gosh, they won but they had to take it from us. We did not just give it to them.”
It drew the curtain on another special season for the War Eagles, who reached the second round for just the third time ever. The others came in 2001 and 2016, when they advanced to the third round. At 15-1, Davie finished with one loss for the fourth time in nine years. Davie is 57-5 across four seasons and it lit Ferebee’s CPC cigar for the fourth straight year.
Catholic also ended a career for the ages. Newsome played No. 1 from her freshman year on and went 20-2 this season and 60-12 in her singles career. Couple that with a 43-5 doubles record and Newsome’s singles/doubles record was 103-17. The only other senior was Abigail Etter.
“We met on the court afterwards,” Ferebee said. “It was a sad moment because both of them have been excellent ambassadors for Davie women’s tennis. But at the same time, I don’t think there’s a more fitting way to go out – if we had to lose – than taking on one of the best teams in the state and making them have to beat us.
“A lot of (Newsome’s) losses were to either Sam (McEachran, who starred at West Forsyth from 2020-23) or in the playoffs and regionals.”
Davie had sensational records up and down the lineup. Drum and Cao went 15-1 as a sophomore and junior, respectively. Chaffin and Aderhold went 14-2 as a freshman and junior. Gibson went 12-6 as a sophomore.