Myrtle Beach, SC – The Atlantic Collegiate Academy girls' tennis team hosted region foe East Clarendon High at Prestwick Country Club on Tuesday, falling to the Wolverines 4-3 in a match that went right down to the wire.
The Armada now stands at 2-3 on the season going into the final scheduled match of the regular season today against Manning High.
The Armada honored its only senior,
Kristina Miroff prior to the start of play. As she has done all year, Miroff was perfect on the day, winning her singles match against Anne Grace Knowlton 6-0, 6-0 while also teaming with ACA's No. 1 player, junior
Katie Godfree, to post a 6-0, 6-0 victory in doubles against Knowlton and her sister Addie.
"We would like to have had a win to celebrate her night, but we came up just short," Armada coach
Michael Roberts said. "This was as close as any match could be, with the difference being five points in a third set tiebreaker in the deciding match."
That deciding match was at No. 5 singles between ACA freshman
Nevaeh Moote and Ally Coker from ECHS. Coker won a close victory in the first set, taking a 6-4 win before Moote battled back to take the second set by the same score. It was during the tiebreaker that Moote started having cramps in both legs. Coker took the tiebreaker 10-5 to clinch the victory for the Wolverines.
"She met with the trainer and tried playing through the pain, but her mobility was severely compromised," Roberts said. "We dominated at the top two positions, but the relative inexperience of the rest of the lineup can really show in a match as close as this one was. Nevaeh was a warrior trying to play through her injury. I am very proud of her determination."
The two teams split the doubles matches, with the ECHS duo of sophomore Jordan Floyd and freshman Kayley Baker earning a 6-1, 6-0 victory over ACA junior
Jada Brantley and freshman
Ashmerriet Tarbush.
In singles play, after both Godfree and Miroff continued their run of play without dropping a single game, junior
Rafaela Rey squared off against Catherine Fleming at No. 3 singles, falling in straight sets 6-4, 6-3. Sophomore
Adoniyah Goldman, playing at No. 4 singles, fell 6-1, 6-2 in her match against Kyla Smith.
"Katie and Kristina continued their streak of not dropping a single game in singles or doubles this year," Roberts said. "Katie played on a sprained ankle but, even at 50 percent, she is still the best player in the conference. She loses fewer points than the fingers on one hand.
"Kristina was all business and never wastes a point, even when the competition is not of her caliber."
After Wednesday's match against Manning, the state playoffs for Class AA are scheduled to begin on Tuesday, November 5. The state finals are scheduled for Saturday, November 16. The girls' singles tennis tournament will be held on November 11-12 at the Dr. Eddie Floyd Tennis Center in Florence.
About Atlantic Collegiate Academy: Atlantic Collegiate Academy (ACA), located in Myrtle Beach, S.C., serves high school students in a safe, small and family-centered setting. Our students seek the opportunity and challenge of rigorous curriculum, high academic standards and elite athletics while also earning up to two years of college credit. ACA serves students in grades 9-12 using an honors curriculum in 9th and 10 grades with a dual enrollment curriculum in 11th and 12th grades.
Learn more about ACA by visiting our website at AtlanticCollegiate.Academy and by following us on social media on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
