Dominant is one way to describe New Hanover girls tennis stars Sophia Catino and Hanna Davis, but the word still falls short.
Electrifying. Preeminent. Steadfast.
Combine those words and multiply them by 10, and you might get close to understanding just how good the duo has been for New Hanover tennis in the past four years.
The Wildcats’ No. 1 and No. 2 singles players have towered over area competition since 2021, going a combined 130-7 (including dual-team and individual) in singles. The pair has also collected 38 wins to just one loss when featuring as the team’s No. 1 doubles squad.
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“It’s definitely a little sad,” Catino said of her final year of high school tennis. “It’s honestly really fun, though, because we’re going to try and make senior year our best year.”
Tuesday night marked another milestone for the Wildcats as the team earned its 100th consecutive conference victory in a 7-2 win over Hoggard. It’s been seven years since the team has dropped a conference matchup, building an impressive 131-6 conference record since 2014.
New Hanover tennis coach Jenifer Colman says Catino and Davis, who have helped New Hanover to 56 of those conference victories, are the best duo to come through her program.
“I think what’s really important about Sophia and Hanna is that they embrace the high school experience,” Coleman said. “They’re the best who I’ve had come through the program together, and they will both go a long way in their tennis careers.”
Last fall, New Hanover advanced to its second dual-team state championship in program history but fell just short of Myers Park 5-4. The loss motivated many Wildcats players, but the team also knows it has to move forward.
“We finally came to the realization that there was nothing we could about (the loss),” Davis said. “I think it’s kind of given motivation to everyone to really just play better.”
Catino won’t be going far after high school as she’s committed to UNCW. Davis is committed to playing at Sewanee next fall.
While basketball and football have been staples of New Hanover athletics, girls’ sports at the school have had less consistency in recent years. For Catino and Davis, seeing attention shift to their team has been exciting.
“We made states last year, and we got enough attention, and it feels good to be recognized as not just that one sport that everyone sees warming up as they’re going to the parking lot,” Davis said.
The Wildcats finished the regular season with Tuesday’s victory over Hoggard, pushing the team to 16-2 on the season. They’ll enter the dual-team state playoffs next week ranked somewhere inside the 4A East’s top four squads and with plenty of ambition.
“Gritty is the best way to describe our team,” Catino said. “No one out here is ever going to quit in a match. We made a sport that can be pretty individual pretty team-like.”
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: New Hanover tennis stars Sophia Catino, Hanna Davis reflect on careers
