The Freedom boys tennis team stamped their ticket to an unbeaten record amongst the 3A squads in the 2A/3A South Mountain Athletic Conference standings this spring.
The Patriots toppled R-S Central, 8-1, Tuesday at the clay courts of the Peachtree Tennis Club in Rutherford County. Freedom’s 10-2 league record in 2011 was good enough for sole possession of second place in the SMAC.
Freedom swept the singles matches, as seniors Drew Rhodes (No. 2), Casey Shade (No. 3) and Miles Kirksey (No. 4) made short work out of their opponents. Rhodes double-bagled Hilltopper senior Paul Best, then both Shade and Kirksey defeated Jacob Kinlaw and Jesse Fowler by identical 6-0, 6-1 scores.
The Pats’ No. 1 singles player, junior Matt Weider, battled hard before claiming a 6-4, 6-3 victory. Freedom freshman Dalton Huffman claimed his fourth straight singles triumph by downing Alexander Jones, 7-6, 6-1, at the No. 5 singles spot. Fellow FHS freshman Luke Lowder (No. 6) stomped R-S junior Caleb Levinson, 6-1, 6-1.
Freedom took the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles matches. Rhodes/Weider rolled past Schafer/Fowler, 8-4, while senior Juan Hernandez and Andrew Ayers crushed Jones/Jared Logan, 8-1.
Freedom (10-5, 10-2) closes out the regular season today with a road non-conference match at Maiden, which is ranked No. 8 in this week’s North Carolina High School Tennis Coaches 2A poll.
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