PINEHURST — Two Richmond Senior High School tennis players competed in the 4A Mideast Regional on Friday.
Senior Kearston Bruce and freshman Katie Way represented the Lady Raiders in the doubles competition, which was held at the Country Club of North Carolina.
Having not played in over three weeks since Richmond’s regular-season finale, Bruce and Way impressed against a tough duo from Fuquay-Varina High School.
Playing Sophia Molanphy and Natalia Molanphy, Bruce and Way lost 2-6, 4-6 in the opening round of the Regional.
In the second game of the best-of-three match, the Lady Raiders trailed 2-5 before making a comeback attempt against the two Lady Bengals.
The Regional appearance was the first for both Bruce and Way in their respective careers.
“Getting to play in my first regionals was a really fun experience,” Bruce commented. “I think me and Katie work really well together since she plays better at the net and I play better in the back.
“Also, since we have become really good friends over the past couple of months, I think that helped us out a lot, too,” she added.
Bruce, who is signed to play softball at Bridgewater College, took up tennis during her junior year.
“The thing I have enjoyed most about these past two tennis seasons is learning how to become a better player and seeing how much I have improved from last year,” Bruce explained. “I have also really enjoyed being able to play for Coach (Neely) Sullivan and am glad I got to experience this with her.”
Way wrapped up her first season with the Lady Raiders and said that the relationship she and Bruce formed on the court was a key to their success this spring.
“Playing doubles with Kearston was a lot of fun,” Way said. “During softball season, we became really good friends, which really helped with our communication.
“The best part about playing with her is that we could have fun, but we were both very competitive and wanted to win while doing so,” she continued. “Making Regionals as a freshman was an amazing experience.
“I was really playing tennis just for fun toward the beginning of the season, but as soon as Kearston and I realized that we could actually be pretty good, we set the goal for ourselves to make it past the regular season.”
As a pairing, Bruce and Way finished the season 7-3 in doubles competitions. Richmond earned second place in the Sandhills Athletic Conference, posting an 11-3 overall record.
