The Cape Fear girls tennis program hit elite status three years ago with the first of back-to-back dual-team NCHSAA 3A championships and a doubles state title for Brooke Bieniek and Anna Piland – players who changed the culture for the Colts.
This year’s squad still has that championship DNA.
Literally.
Shea Bieniek plays in the No. 1 spot her big sister once held.
She took another No. 1 spot from Brooke, too.
Shea became Cape Fear girls tennis’ all-time wins leader this season, nudging her big sister into second place with 132 wins and counting as the seventh-seeded Colts ride into the second round of dual-team playoffs guaranteed another home match. And Shea is half of a doubles team, along with Andi Brinker, that qualified for this weekend’s individual state championships.
Brooke will have bragging rights as long as she’s the only one with a state doubles title. That guarantees Shea will be playing at full focus in Burlington, where four wins would earn a state crown.
“I definitely look up to her and I’m the little sister, so I always want to beat her at everything,” Shea said, noting that Brooke wasn’t too hard on her about the wins record. “She was cool about it, but she was like, ‘let’s recount that.’ “ Shea said, smiling.
That big sister influence went beyond Shea, and the freshmen who started their high school careers as two-time state champions learning from Piland and the elder Bieniek have just started their final postseason on a Colts run of six straight conference championships and carrying a load of playoff experience.
“Just from playoff games, they’ve managed to play an extra season,” Mike Bieniek, Brooke and Shea’s father, said.
“It was great to see these young players: The moment wasn’t too big for them. They took on the challenge and in plenty of matches they were really clinching things down on the bottom courts.”
Along with Shea Bieniek and Brinker, Brianna Keen and Olivia Arnette round out the senior class. Brinker and Keen have eclipsed the century mark for wins in their Cape Fear careers, and memories of hoisting a trophy are fueling them for a playoff run.
“It was just the best feeling in the world,” Keen said of winning the title.
Since Brooke’s class graduated, Shea has set the tone for Cape Fear girls tennis, and she does it with an uncanny balance of on-court focus and grit with off-court compassion and grace.
“Whatever she loves, she puts all of her effort and her mind and her heart into and I love that about her,” Keen said.
Shea hits Brinker with aggressive high-fives and slams the ball sometimes in heated moments, firing up her teammate and pushing to the next level of competitive success.
“She’s a competitor,” tennis coach Jarrod Britt said during Tuesday’s straight-set win over South Central. “She’s not going to be laughing and joking with her opponent, she’s just like, give me the ball, let me play.”
Mike Bieniek, in the shade of the pine trees by Cape Fear’s tennis courts Monday alongside his wife Melissa, appreciates Shea’s ability to be all-business on the court while keeping a more whimsical, in-the-moment attitude off of it.
“What people see on the outside is a driven, competitive person but her personality off the court is completely different. She loves working with kids. She loves working with her sister,” Mike said.
Shea just shared her 18th birthday with her twin sister, Logan, who has Down syndrome.
Shea has the ability to inspire her teammates because she is inspired by Logan. She’s not just playing for herself: She’s playing for her sister.
“Stuff that she might not be able to do, I do it for her, like playing tennis – she can’t, so doing it for her makes it better (for me),” Shea said.
“Growing up with a special needs sister has made her more aware of kids and have a little more empathy and awareness of the gifts she’s been given, so I think she appreciates it,” Mike said.
The rarity of two state championships isn’t lost on Shea, and she understands that the bond with teammates is what matters the most.
“We all truly do care for each other and I think that makes us play better,” Shea said.
If she and Brinker can go one match further than they did in last year’s NCHSAA tournament, they’ll be playing for a state championship.
“I just feel lucky to have been a part of it and that I got to contribute in some way and to hopefully be remembered by our school and our community,” Brinker said.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Cape Fear tennis state championships Shea Bieniek senior class
