By Brian Pitts
Enterprise Record

Despite a string of narrow defeats, Davie’s tennis team is alive and kicking.
“At 6-6, we’ve now got a real chance to finish above .500,” coach Shane Nixon said after back-to-back wins. “The future is bright, but the present isn’t bad either.”
Reagan 5, Davie 4
The War Eagles lost by one point for the third time in as many 5-4 matches, but Nixon was happy about pushing Reagan to the limit after losing 6-3 to the Raiders in early March. The match was held in Pfafftown on April 1.
“Coaching can be a brutal business,” Nixon said. “Sports in general can, but coaching really can be. Like it or not, wins and losses matter, and they should. And I’ve said before that our program doesn’t do moral victories. But sometimes progress is still progress, even if taking the L. In coaching, we have to ask are we getting better as the season goes on, are we making progress toward a goal? We are making progress. Every single score from the first time through the CPC schedule we’ve improved upon. Not ‘better enough’ to win yet, but the CPC is really strong this year and we are still relatively young. For now, I can be OK with us just making progress. My three seniors keep going out there in singles, playing against really good players and giving me great effort. Zach Hill, Grayson Busse and Barrett Taylor are such wonderful young men. I’m proud of how they lead our team, even if the results on the court aren’t what we’d hope.”
Luke Cranfill, Brady Carter and Riley Mallory allowed Davie to split singles 3-3. The War Eagles, though, fell to Reagan for the eighth consecutive time after dropping two of three doubles. Cranfill and Carter got an 8-4 win at No. 3.
“My three freshmen are playing so good,” Nixon said. “What more can I say (about Cranfill)? He’s off to a 10-0 start (in singles). And we’ve figured out how he fits in doubles, and now he is getting wins there. Just a remarkable start to a career. Riley played a good player and toughed out a split. He isn’t looking like a freshman anymore. Chris is chomping at the bit to challenge into singles and he deserves that chance. Hopefully weather eases up and we get more practice days so that can happen. For now, though, he is coming in at two doubles and playing so well. He and Grayson were up 4-1 before some serving issues hit both of them. I’m so proud of how Chris has handled everything. And, of course, there’s Brady. Speaking of starts to careers, Brady has rebounded from a slow start to the year and put together a sophomore campaign to rival his freshmen year, which is saying something. He’s never out of a match and hardly ever out of a point. He’s fun to coach.”
Davie 9, Mt. Tabor 0
Predictably, Davie crushed the Spartans in Winston-Salem on April 2.
Busse, Hill, Taylor, Cranfill, Carter and Mallory took care of business in singles, and Hill/Taylor, Busse/Chris Samet and Owen Tomlinson/Jonah Almond put a bow on the shutout in doubles.
Davie, which evened its CPC record at 5-5, outscored Tabor 17-1 in two meetings.
“I’m gonna keep saying it – we are getting better,” Nixon said. “We are the team right now that no one wants to see make a playoff and have to play. This is not a Tabor team like we’ve seen recently, but this is also not a bad team. And while we beat them just a few days ago, this was different. In total score, only one game different, but in mass completely different. This was a never-in-doubt victory at their place, those don’t happen very much in our league and certainly not at Tabor.
“I’d be hard pressed to single anyone out; we played really well from 1-11. How many times, against a good opponent, do you get to get back on the bus and every single player, all the way through exhibition guys, gets a win that day? Not often, but it happened today.”
Davie 5, North Iredell 4
After going 2-6 in 5-4 and 6-3 outcomes, the War Eagles’ fortunes in close matches finally swung back their way in a home nonconference match on April 3.
“I think this was a season-defining win,” Nixon said. “N. Iredell is really good; coach (Corrine) Rupp has done a really good job with them. They’ll likely win their conference and go a round or two in the state playoffs. They beat us last year at their place. To beat them was huge. I’ve been talking a lot about how much we’ve improved, but not had the result to back me up. Our last two matches show that what I’ve seen, in terms of this team’s growth, is real. I couldn’t be prouder.”
Cranfill, Carter and Mallory won in blowout style at Nos. 4-5-6 singles, and Busse/Samet and Cranfill/Carter did what they needed to do in doubles.
“Individually, we’ve got some guys putting up some really impressive seasons, like all-time good,” he said. “Luke is undefeated in singles and he and Brady are starting to really gel in doubles. That is a freshman and a sophomore who between them have lost one match in singles and only a couple in doubles. You can get pretty pumped about the future of the program, but those numbers are real, in the here and now. Chris and Riley round out the freshman class and are contributing in unique ways. Both got big wins that made all the difference today. My seniors at 1-2-3 are leading this team. I can’t stress that enough. We don’t get where we are without Grayson, Zach and Barrett being who they are.”