Panther Creek sweeps first and runner-up spots in Southwest Wake girls tennis championships

Panther Creek girls’ tennis team faced familiar foes in the Southwest Wake Athletic Conference singles and doubles championship – themselves.

Western Carolina recruit Jordan Strickland and Penn State recruit Sammi Smith (both seniors), defeated teammates junior Aishani Tingare and freshman Melody Zhang 6-1, 6-0 to earn their third conference title in four years.

In singles, Panther Creek’ s Amanda Cyr cruised to a 6-0, 6-1 victory against senior Catamounts teammate Orla LaBiche.

Panther Creek coach Nathaniel Blalock had no problem seeing the finals dominated by his Catamounts.

“It’s easy for me (to watch), obviously every time we take the court we want Panther Creek to win,” Blalock said. “When that was given, it became a matter of sitting back and watching six young ladies that excel … and that was fun to watch.”

As for the girls on the court?

“Oh, it was kind of weird,” Strickland said. “It’s fun because we all know each other, but we still have to stay focused on winning.”

“We stayed competitive, but enjoyed ourselves at the same time,” Labiche added.

Strickland/Smith tough in doubles: Strickland and Smith have built up quite a camaraderie, being doubles partners ever since their freshman year.

“We know all each other’s habits, we know what all of each other’s strengths and weaknesses are,” Strickland said.

“We’re a lot more comfortable with each other,” Smith said. “We can call each other out when we do something bad, when we do something good we praise each other.”

Cyr gets big win in semifinals: Cyr didn’t have an easy path to the singles final, having to get by Green Hope senior Karena Zhang in the semifinals to get there.

With Zhang holding a 4-3 lead in the second set, Cyr stormed back to score three unanswered points, ultimately taking the match (6-1, 6-4).

Despite a semifinal exit, SWAC coaches had nothing but positives to say about conference player of the year Karena Zhang. Green Hope coach Pam Gilbert, summed up why Karena was selected best.

“As a member on Green Hope, she was invaluable, as a member of the conference, she was invaluable,” Gilbert said. “She was a leader … who embodied sportsmanship and that’s what we look for in a player of the year in addition to someone who is a role model to their team.”

On to regionals: Panther Creek and Green Hope will send all six of their participants to next week’s regionals at Millbrook High School. The Falcons are sending Karena Zhang and Ana Horvat for singles and doubles teams of Ellie and Sara Ackerson and Sophia Gray and Cynthia Xiao.

Apex will be represented by their doubles duo of senior Melissa Romano and junior Elizabeth Johnson.

Middle Creek (sophomore Jenna Stachowiak) and Cary (senior Donalyse Tyrell) both send one singles player.

This story was originally published October 13, 2015 at 5:56 PM with the headline "Panther Creek sweeps first and runner-up spots in Southwest Wake girls tennis championships."