Lady Wildcat wins CVAC tennis title

By: Bill Bailey | Morganton News Herald
Published: October 20, 2009

Maiden --

Having only one day to complete the entire CVAC tennis tournament, Friday was a day on the tennis courts at Maiden High School.
It was also a day Draughn's senior No. 1 player Audrey Zopp will remember, because when all the courts were cleared, the Lady Wildcat stood at the top as the 2009 CVAC singles champion.
Zopp capped off her senior season with an overall record of 17-3, and had to win four matches at Maiden to pick up the overall singles title.
After having a tough opening match against Erikia Ramseur of Maiden, in which Zopp won 8-5, she breezed through the second round 8-0 over Lauren Beatty of South Iredell.
Bandys' Amanda Long provided the champion with the toughest contest of the day in the third round, as Zopp had to overcome an 8-7 deficit to tie the match at 8-8. She then won the 10-6 tie breaker for an exhausting semifinal victory.
In the championship match, Maiden's Megan Moose could not match Zopp's intensity, and the Draughn senior captured the CVAC crown with an 8-4 final score.
One of Zopp's greatest fans all season has been the second-year Wildcats tennis coach Chris Cozort.
"Audrey had a great day of tennis, " Cozort said. "As she came in here as the No. 1 ranked player in singles and was the hunted. Each girl gave her their best and Audrey found a way to win. In the match with the Young girl from Bandys, Audrey told me she had gotten lucky in that match. I told her in almost all championship runs you win one that you might not should have won and that was hers today. That is about all the coaching I did, as Audrey took it from there and defeated last year's runner-up to win the championship.
"Along with the pressure of being top seeded, additional pressure was the appearance of a college coach here to watch her play. Obviously the coach was impressed by what he saw, as Audrey always handles herself well in victory and the rare defeat.
"It was my pleasure to coach an athlete like Audrey, she has helped build, establish and bring recognition to the tennis program at a brand new school. She is a competitor. She closes out her career here as the CVAC singles champion."
Due to a personal conflict, Zopp will not be able to attend the next round of competition, and Megan Moore from Maiden will receive the top seed.
Zopp's results
Zopp (D) def Erikia Ramseur (Maiden) 8-5
Zopp (D) def Lauren Beatty (South Iredell) 8-0
Zopp (D) def Amanda Long (Bandys) 9-8 (10-6)
Zopp (D) def Megan Moose (Maiden) 8-4

CVAC West Regional Qualifiers
Singles
*Zopp will not attend due to schedule conflicts
1. Megan Moore, Maiden
2. Amanda Young, Bandys
3. Lauren Justice, South Iredell
4. Megan Quinn, East Burke
5. Austin Hoffman, East Burke
6. Jessica Abernathy, Newton-Conover