Rock Hill girls top Spartanburg, advance to Upper State tennis championship
The Rock Hill Bearcats remained unbeaten with a come-from-behind 4-2 win over the Spartanburg Vikings in the third round of the Class 5A playoffs Wednesday afternoon at Rock Hill High.
The contest came down to the No. 2 doubles and the No. 5 singles matches. The Bearcats won both with the tiebreaker.
“This is a huge win for us,” said fourth-year Rock Hill coach Scott Neely. “This win gets us over the hurdle. Spartanburg has been a strong program for a long time. They are an excellent team.”
Spartanburg (13-4) took an early lead when Maggie Cubitt topped Robin Alston in the number one singles match. The Bearcats tied it at 1-1 when DeAlva Alston defeated Elizabeth Vex in the number four singles match.
The Vikings, the Region 3 champions, went in front 2-1 as Claire Coleman scored a win over Anna Sharp at number two singles. Rock Hill tied the count again as Shakendra Alston beat Sydney Cox in the No. 3 singles.
Rock Hill’s number two doubles team of Sydney McCraw and Gabby Loflin won the first set, but Spartanburg’s Murphy O’Shields and Payton O’Shields rallied from a 5-2 deficit to win the second set to tie the count. Rock Hill got off to a quick start in the tiebreaker and won 10-1. That gave the Bearcats a 3-2 lead.
At No. 5 singles, Rock Hill’s Lillian Vyas lost the first set to Spartanburg’s Dawaysia Crocker, but came from behind in the second set to win and force the tiebreaker.
Vyas took an early lead in the tiebreaker, then pulled away for a 10-3 win that won the match and sent Rock Hill to the Upper State Championship on Monday at Rock Hill against T.L. Hanna, which beat Boiling Springs on Wednesday.
“ ‘Lillie’ has ice water in her veins,” said Neely. “She never changes her expression, and she does not get emotional. I was not surprised that she was able to get it done.”
Neely said the win, which boosted Rock Hill to 17-0, was a great team effort.
“Our entire team from top to bottom is better than a year ago when Spartanburg knocked us out of the playoffs,” said Neely. “We performed in the clutch tonight, and we needed everybody to get this win. Our true character showed tonight.”
Singles
No. 1 - Maggie Cubitt (S) def. Robin Alston 6-2, 6-3; No. 2 - Claire Coleman (S) def. Anna Sharp 6-1, 6-1; No. 3 - Shakendra Alston (RH) def. Sydney Cox 7-5, 6-2; No. 4 - DeAlva Alston (RH) def. Elizabeth Yex 6-3, 6-0; No. 5 - Lillian Vyas (RH) def. Dawaysia Crocker 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 10-3.
Doubles
No. 2 - Sydney McCraw/Gabby Laflin (RH) def. Murphy O’Shields/Payton O’Shields 7-6 (7-2), 5-7, 10-1.
This story was originally published November 2, 2016 at 8:59 PM with the headline "Rock Hill girls top Spartanburg, advance to Upper State tennis championship."