East Wake tennis completes sweep of Knightdale

A 9-0 win over Knightdale on Monday got the East Wake boys tennis team off to the start coach Jackson Glasgow was looking for in the final week of the regular season.

The triumph completed a season sweep of the Knights and kept the Warriors within reach of a share of second place in the Greater Neuse River 4A Conference final standings, which they claimed after defeating Harnett Central, 9-0, in the regular season finale on Wednesday.

Garner claimed the other share of the No. 2 spot by defeating Rolesville 9-0 in its final league match on Wednesday. The Trojans split their two matches with the Warriors, with East Wake winning 5-4 in March and Garner taking the rematch, 7-2.

“(It was the) first match back from spring break, and my top guys hadn’t picked up a racquet,” East Wake coach Jackson Glasgow said of the disparity in the two matches with Garner. “We lost at No. 1 and No. 2 singles (on April 4) where we’d won before. That spiraled over into everyone’s matches.”

The other two losses for both teams were to undefeated conference champion Clayton.

Garner and East Wake are slated to draw from a hat Monday afternoon to break the tie, to determine which team will get to compete in the state dual team tournament, which is set to begin May 3.

East Wake (13-4, 11-3 GNRC), which has now finished second or better in the GNRC for four straight seasons, also topped Knightdale 9-0 in their match in the first cycle of conference play in March.

Knightdale closed its season with a loss at home to West Johnston on Wednesday.

The Knights faced an uphill battle from the season’s onset, having no returning players and a roster of just four players for the first three matches this spring.

“This season has definitely been tough, record-wise, but I’ve enjoyed watching these athletes improve each day,” said coach Martin Faison. “Having no returners hurt us a little bit, but these guys came out and fought hard every practice and match. I hope this season has sparked a lifelong interest in them to continue to play the sport.”

In singles Monday, East Wake No. 1 seed Jake Clement gave up a single game as he defeated Jesse Durham. Brooks Stancil swept Knightdale’s Simon Diaz on court No. 2 and Will D’Allaird won 6-2, 6-1 over Andy Pineda-Gamez on No. 3.

The other half of the singles lineup was nearly identical. Warriors No. 4 Josh Hatley won 6-1, 6-0 over Jordan Hankins, Khadeem Dublin defeated Zac El Jaouhari at No. 5 (6-2, 6-0), and AJ Swaim won in straight sets against Sean Gamayote at No. 6.

In doubles action, Clement and Aaron Ziegler won 8-4 over Durham and Diaz; Stancil and Tyler Madjar won 8-2 over Pineda-Gamez and El Jaouhari; and Hatley and Swaim shut out Hankins and Gamayote.

This story was originally published April 21, 2016 at 12:12 PM with the headline "East Wake tennis completes sweep of Knightdale."