Reynolds wins state tennis title--From the W-S Journal   
By Bob Sutton    
BURLINGTON -- Tennis teams from Reynolds and Bishop McGuinness had a little longer wait than they would have preferred yesterday at the NCHSAA dual-team tennis championships. Both teams got what they came for anyway.

Reynolds repeated as the 4-A state champion by dispatching East Chapel Hill 5-0 at Burlington Tennis Center, while Bishop McGuinness needed to go beyond singles competition before winning its first state title in the sport with a 5-2 victory against N.C. School of Science and Math in 1-A.

Because Bishop McGuinness was forced into the doubles portion of its match, the start of the 4-A showdown was delayed for more than a half-hour until courts were cleared.

The Demons were ready when they got their chance.

“I think it benefitted us having the experience of last year,” said Parker Chang, who topped Carl Solik 6-3, 6-0 in such quick fashion at No. 4 singles that he spent a longer time watching his teammates complete the team task. “I think watching is more work than playing.”

Reynolds (21-1) clinched the title when Chad Hoskins won 7-6 (6), 6-3 against Kassim Alani at No. 3 singles, meaning the No. 2 singles match was left incomplete even though Dillon Segur of Reynolds won the first set against Sam Weissler.

Up and down the lineup, there were few kinks for the Demons. “We prepared this whole week with individual strategy for East Chapel Hill,” coach Brad Fisher said. “It worked absolutely perfectly.”

Part of the reason for that was that 4-A individual state champion Robbie Mudge was leading off the lineup. He won at No. 1 singles against Peter McDonald by 6-1, 6-3, repeating a result from a week earlier in the individual state semifinals.

“It was a really good two weeks,” Mudge said. “The team win tops it all off.” Mudge’s foot injury prior to the 2010 finals meant that he wasn’t on the court on the last day of the season a year ago. This time, he said he spent time during the pre-match delay comfortably hanging out with his teammates.

“There’s a lot of nerves playing in the championship match,” he said. “We played a good match.” The other winners for Reynolds were Dale Fetterman, who dominated Ben Gerber 6-0, 6-3 at No. 5, and Paul Yamane, who held off Max Smith 6-4, 7-6 (4) at No. 6.

The match ended in slightly less than two hours, which by the Demons’ terms this posteason qualified as an extended day on the courts.

East Chapel Hill, an eight-time state team champion in the finals for the 12th time, finished with a 19-2 record.

The 2010 championship for Reynolds came with an adjusted lineup after Mudge’s injury. With four seniors in the lineup for the title matchup yesterday, it all lined up for the Demons.