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By Brian Pitts

Enterprise Record

For the first time this season, Davie’s tennis team failed to clinch victory in singles when they traveled to Pfafftown on Sept. 18.

Reagan may not have been mathematically defeated after singles, but it could hear the Jaws shark music. Defeat was coming soon in doubles.

After taking two matches from Davie in singles, the Raiders got scorched 24-5 in doubles and lost the match 7-2. The margin in Davie’s first eight matches was either 9-0 or 8-1.

“I told the Reagan coach: ‘You’re the first team to take us to doubles. Congratulations. And I don’t mean that as an insult. You played well,’” Collin Ferebee said after Davie ran its CPC record to 8-0 on the coach’s 36th birthday. “We didn’t play our best match, but we can have ugly matches and things to work on, but at the end of the day, you won and that’s what matters. The hallmark of this team is even when we’re not at our best, we’re still playing really well. Going back to Laura Becker, Sierra (Foster) and Amanda (Ngo) and all them, they had some clear talent, but this has been the best mentality team I’ve had in eight years. No team before has had that ‘we’re winning’ mentality from top to bottom. I love coming to practice every day.”

The singles winners were Elliot Newsome (6-1, 6-2), Corbin Drum (6-3, 6-2), Bailey Aderhold (6-3, 6-2) and Casey Cao (6-0, 6-3).

Sweeping doubles were Newsome/Leah Gibson (8-3), Drum/Aderhold (8-1) and Kate Chaffin/Cao (8-1).

Newsome, who has committed to Division-II Belmont Abbey, has been surgically efficient during a 10-0 season that has pushed her career singles record to 50-10. In 19 of 20 sets this season, she’s won 6-2 or greater.

“She’s trying to make sure when she heads off in the summer that she’s playing her best tennis,” Ferebee said. “Rather than trying to blow up opponents, she’s working on eliminating mistakes, hitting cleaner strokes and not double-faulting. It’s a striving-for-perfection thing. She’s worked super hard the last four years.”

Here’s something that’s scary for opponents: Newsome is the only senior starter. The likely No. 1 player next year will be Drum, who is 10-0 this year after going 14-2 as a freshman.

“We’ve got some freshmen and sophomores waiting in the wings to take over,” Ferebee said. “Corbin has been No. 2 for two years and she’s really grown as a leader. If this does turn into her team next year, I don’t think we’re going to be in a bad spot at all with Corbin ‘taking over.’”

Davie 9, Forbush 0

Forbush marked the 10th hopelessly overmatched opponent in 2024. Five singles matches went 6-0, 6-0, the exception being Gibson’s 6-1, 6-0 score at No. 4.

The nonconference match was held at Davie on Sept. 19.

While Chaffin/Cao won 8-4 at No. 1 doubles, Ferebee let some backups see action in the other doubles. Lena Parsley/Bethany Jacobs and Ola Leszczuk/Avery Gladd both won 8-1.

Leszczuk is a freshman who is 6-1 in doubles with four different partners.

“Ola is our No. 7,” Ferebee said. “She is a super hard worker. She wants to do what she can to help the team. She’s too important to this team to not get experience when you’re part of the future.”

Gladd is 2-0 in doubles while teaming up with Leszczuk.

“Between exhibition doubles and a couple of matches that she has played in, Avery has tried to prove that she deserves a spot in the future,” he said.

Parsley and Jacobs have taken advantage of their opportunities, going 3-0 as doubles partners.

“Lena and Bethany are our No. 4 doubles team,” he said. “I get them out there when I can, and when I see them beat a good opponent, it makes me feel like we’re doing something good because I’ve got underclassmen ready to take over when my upperclassmen graduate.”

Davie’s third 10-0 singles record belongs to Cao. Chaffin and Aderhold are both 9-1.