Clover High tennis soars over Rock Hill, Northwestern

The Clover High School boys’ tennis team is sitting atop the Region 3-AAAA standings.

The Blue Eagles improved to 4-0 in the region and 5-0 for the season, after wins last week against Rock Hill and Northwestern.

No. 1 Justin White, No. 2 Thomas Summers, No. 3 senior Patrick Smith, No. 4 senior Rob Long and No. 5 senior Garrett Smith all came away with big singles wins against the Rock Hill Bearcats.

At doubles, senior Holden McGill and Sean Elder showed no mercy with a quick straight set win.

Also last week, the Blue Eagles traveled to Northwestern and continued their success with a 5-2 win.

Summers, Patrick Smith, Long and Garrett Smith won straight set victories in singles and the doubles tandem of McGill and Elder had a strong straight set win.

White stumbled for the first time at No. 1 singles, but he vowed to return to form when the Trojans come to Clover in a few weeks.

In a third match last week, Clover defeated Charlotte Latin Hawks 5-1.

White, Patrick Smith, Long and Garrett Smith all had straight set victories. McGill and Elder won at doubles.

Summers came up short in a two-set slugfest.

“We have an experienced team this year,” said head coach Phil Wingard. “We have six seniors and my top 10 players are seasoned veterans and they play hard.

“When I huddle with them before a match and I remind them of what it took to get us to the place of being a good team, they quietly nod their heads in agreement and then go out and play the game the way it is supposed to be played.”

Wingard said junior White leads the way.

“Justin is a great player to have at number one because he plays so hard and never quits,” Wingard said.

Ninth-grader Summers has returned to the team after taking a year off to play tournaments. “Thomas is a great player to have as a number two,” Wingard said. “He hits hard and goes for a lot and will continue to grow as a player.”

At three singles is senior Patrick Smith, who has played three singles for four years.

“He is the smartest player on the team and measures his opponent and figures out the easiest way to beat him,” Wingard said.

Four singles this year is senior Long, who has been a four or five singles player for Clover the past five years.

“Nobody wants to play him because he picks you apart with touch shots and he gets to everything you hit across the net,” said Wingard.

No. 5 singles this year is senior Garrett Smith, who has been a five or higher for five years.

“Garrett plays a strong five and is one of the best, if not the best five in the state,” Wingard said. “Two doubles is strong this year because I have two players who have played two doubles before and they compliment each other.”

Senior McGill is a strong singles player who is able to pass at will players who come to net and junior Elder has the big serve that is so important in doubles.

“My reserves are bolstered by senior Cameron Scobie, who has both a good singles game and a good doubles game,” Wingard said.

Ninth-graders Jay Rowland and Andy Brom contribute to the team’s success.

“These ninth-graders are our future,” said Wingard. “I love to watch this team play tennis because they play the game the way I think it should be played. And they are successful.”

This story was originally published March 31, 2015 at 10:01 AM with the headline "Clover High tennis soars over Rock Hill, Northwestern."