Bishop McGuinness freshman Lucia Neves recently claimed the individual state title in girls tennis, and the Lady Villains team avenged its only loss of the season with a 5-3 win over East Wilkes on Wednesday.
Neves became the first Bishop McGuinness girls tennis player to win a singles title since Morgan Auger in 2014. The individual championship matches were held in Cary, where Neves beat Sasha Korjova of Triangle Math & Science 6-4, 6-4 in the championship match.
Lady Villains Head Coach Larry Ingram said it was quite an achievement for a freshman.
“The girl she beat in the championship match was an extremely good player, and she had won a state doubles championship match before. I do feel good about Neves’ chances to win another state championship. She is going to get better and better. In November she is going to San Antonio … to play in the nationals. Technically she is 14, but … in the United States Tennis Association she plays U16 singles and doubles. She just wants the competition. For the regular season with us she lost a total of seven games,” he said.
On Wednesday, the Lady Villains (17-1), the No. 3 seed in the East Regional 1-A bracket, were motivated to advance in the playoffs and erase the only blemish on their season.
“It was a close match and it felt great. The girls looked like they wanted a little revenge. East Wilkes was a very good team. They were a lot better than a No. 10 seed, but the top eight seeds went to the conference champions. They are a very competitive team, and their No. 1 doubles team went to the state doubles championship match. Our No. 3 seed (Adelaide Jernigan) was out on a college visit for that match, and our No. 6 for that match (Anne Overman) played up from No. 5 for that match and had an injured foot. So we switched some things up for the next match with them. We did let a couple of close matches get away from us against East Wilkes. That was a lesson in itself. You have to close out matches. It told us what we need to do and focus on, and that is what we are doing in practice. Some of the girls that lost against East Wilkes the first time won on Wednesday, and I think that has given us some confidence,” Ingram said.
Bishop McGuinness will play away against Mount Airy, the three-time defending Class 1-A state champion, on Tuesday afternoon. The winner of that match will play in the Class 1-A state championships on Saturday.
“Mount Airy is really good, and they are the three-time champions, but we beat them earlier this season. They are a tremendous team, and their coach is a really good coach and and a really nice guy. The girls are really pumped up and ready for the challenge. The top two teams in the East are East Roxboro and No. 2 Chatham Charter. I think if we can get past Mount Airy we have a good shot at the state title,” Ingram said.
Wednesday
Bishop McGuinness 5, East Wilkes 3
Singles
Lucia Neves (BM) d. Emerson Simmons 4-1, retired; Kendall Herr (BM) d. Ava Darnell, 6-4, 7-5; Adelaide Jernigan (BM) d. Abbie Kilpatrick 6-1, 6-0; Lily Truitt (EW) d. Sarah Pulliam 6-0, 6-7 (1-7), 10-6; Lily Winters (BM) d. Diella Ward 6-4, 6-3; Sydney Johnson (EW) df. Anne Overman 4-6, 6-2, 10-3
Simmons/Darnell (EW) d. Neves/Pulliam 8-4; Herr/Jernigan (BM) d. Kilpatrick/Truitt 8-4.
