Lady Raider tennis notches first win of season with 8-1 win over Purnell Swett

PEMBROKE, N.C. -- The Lady Raider tennis team picked up its first victory of the new season 8-1 Tuesday in the first Sandhills Athletic Conference match of the year against Purnell Swett High School.

In singles action, senior Greyson Way moved up to the No. 1 slot, beating Malina Cummings 6-1, 6-1 in straight sets. Fellow senior Jayana Nicholson switched places with Way, moving down to the No. 2 singles match with the same results. Nicholson was victorious over Tierra Locklear 6-0, 6-0.

The only singles match with much drama came in the No. 3 match, where senior Emily Parsons eventually took down Harlie Scott 6-2, 4-6, 10-6. As for the rest of singles, No. 4 senior Chloe Wiggins won 6-0, 6-2 over Elysha Strickland, senior Taylor Parrish defeated Lauren Strickland 6-3, 6-1 in the No. 5 match and junior Emily Buie beat Mya Sampson 6-4, 6-3 in straight sets.

Doubles action would be the only place Purnell Swett would pick up points when the Raider team of seniors Ashley Yepez and Morgan Hooks lost 6-4 in the No. 3 match. Otherwise, the No. 1 team of Way and Parsons took care of business 8-2, while Nicholson and Wiggins won easily 8-0.

For head coach Mike Way, it was improvement over the first two games of the season against out-of-conference opponents.

"Last week we were a little intimidated. Today we were more aggressive and forced the action more," he said. "Still a long way to go, but I saw some signs of life today."