LAURINBURG — The Lady Scots tennis team had a rough afternoon on the courts against Lumberton. The 8-1 loss to the Lady Pirates was their first loss of the season. The match was originally scheduled to be in Laurinburg, but last minute was moved to Lumberton because of the heavy rains Tuesday.

None of the Lady Scots singles players won their matches and only one of the doubles teams came out victorious.

Senior Cheyanne Strong lost her match against Lumberton’s Kaitlyn McDonald in a third-set tiebreaker. Strong picked up a 7-5 win in the first set before narrowly falling in the second set 4-6 before forcing a third-set tiebreaker. Strong had a great showing, eventually dropping the tiebreaker, 9-11.

Fellow senior Kathryn Goodwin was competing with the Lady Scots cross country team, which forced head coach Atondra Ellis to move sophomore Samantha Bowen up to second singles.

Bowen lost in two sets, 2-6, 2-6, to Lumberton’s Morgan Miller. Bowen was playing with blisters on her palms, which according to Ellis did impact her play but she did her best to push through.

Junior Liza McIntyre took on Lumberton’s Elizabeth Stanley in third singles, moving up from her normal fourth singles position. McIntrye fell in her first set 0-6 before making a slight comeback in the second set falling 2-6. The Lady Scots final two singles players — Karrigan Campbell and Justice McCrimmon — didn’t fare any better in their fourth and fifth singles matches.

Campbell lost to Lumberton’s McKinght Pope, 1-6, 0-6. and McCrimmon fell to Lumberton’s Anna Russ 1-6, 0-6. With Goodwin missing, the Lady Scots had to forfeit sixth singles — which automatically gave the Lady Pirates the victory.

The only win of the afternoon for the Lady Scots was Strong and Bowen playing first doubles against McDonald and Russ. The Lady Scots duo remained undefeated on the season in doubles play with an 8-3 win.

McIntrye and Campbell were leading Lumberton’s Ashley Prevatte and Dorely Villarreal 2-1 before Campbell got overheated and was unable to continue playing.

Third doubles say two tennis newcomers take the court, McCrimmon teamed up with freshman D’avaeria Johnson to take on Lumberton’s McKnight Pope and Carleigh Parrish. The Lady Scots duo lost the match, 0-6.

“Lumberton had a good showing, but we helped them quite a bit by not having our usual line up and not playing our best,” said Ellis. “We had a couple of girls that left everything on the court, like Cheyanne. She does her best to set a good example of a student athlete. Others, however, just didn’t show up to play. We’ve got to work more on better conditioning and a fight-through-it attitude.”

With the loss, the Lady Scots move to 3-1 overall and in conference play while Lumberton moves to 4-1 overall and 3-1 in SAC-8 play.

The Lady Scots were back in action Thursday hosting Richmond in Sandhills Athletic Conference action to conclude their week.

Amber Hatten can be reached at 910-506-3170.

Amber Hatten | Laurinburg Exchange Lady Scots sophomore Samantha Bowen returns a serve during her first doubles match. Bowen and her partner senior Cheyanne Strong were the only win the Lady Scots picked up on Wednesday against Lumberton. It was the first conference loss for the Lady Scots this season.
https://www.laurinburgexchange.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_IMG_1226.jpgAmber Hatten | Laurinburg Exchange Lady Scots sophomore Samantha Bowen returns a serve during her first doubles match. Bowen and her partner senior Cheyanne Strong were the only win the Lady Scots picked up on Wednesday against Lumberton. It was the first conference loss for the Lady Scots this season.

By Amber Hatten

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