Lady Wolves end one of the best

The Lincolnton Lady Wolves’ tennis season came to an end Tuesday night in the quarterfinals of the NC State Dual Team Playoffs losing to Wilkes Central 7-1.
Wilkes Central entered the match 18-2 and as the No. 1 seed from the Mountain Valley Conference. The Wolves had fallen to Wilkes 7-1 earlier in the season.
All-state selections Emily Mathis and Alexis Elmore spearheaded the Eagles’ effort beating Lincolnton’s Shawn Kindley (6-0, 6-1) and Jessica Newton (6-1, 6-2).
No. 3 seed Liz Rhine came close to pulling an upset, but fell 4-6, 6-1, 7-2. Ashton Coffey, the Eagles’ 4 seed, defeated Angela Graham 6-0, 6-3.
A bright spot for Lincolnton was Shelley Stevens who slipped past Laura Rollins 7-5, 7-6. Anna Carpenter played Sarah Brown close, but lost 7-5, 6-3.
In doubles’ play, Mathis/Elmore beat Kindley Newton 10-0. Rhine and Mary Heather Lineberger game Spencer/Coffey all they could handle. Their effort, while admirable, was not enough losing 11-9.
The Lady Wolves’ coach Chris Hoffman was very pleased with the Lady Wolves’ play despite the loss.
“We lost to Wilkes Central earlier in the season by a similar score, but I thought we played them tougher today. Liz almost pulled a big upset and at No. 2 in doubles Liz and Mary Heather had a match point, but just came up a little short,” he said.
Lincolnton finishes the season 13-4 in a memorable year according to Hoffman.
“These girls had a fantastic season–one of our best ever.”
Final records for the Wolves (singles/doubles) are: Shawn Kindley 11-6/10-11, Jessica Newton 10-7/9-11, Liz Rhine 13-7/6-4, Angela Graham 12-4/13-2, Shelley Stevens 13-3/12-2, Anna Carpenter 13-7/8-2 for the first six seeds.
Other individual records are: Mary Heather Lineberger 5-0/8-4, Betty Royster 0-1/2-0, Anna Kiser 0-0/4-2 and Sheldon McCurry 0-0/2-2.
by John Mark Brooks