Panthers on Top! Carolina Forest rolls to second state tennis championship

The Carolina Forest girls tennis team put an exclamation point on its season Saturday.

The Panthers completed a dominant postseason run with a 6-0 win over Spartanburg to win the Class 5A championship at the Eddie Floyd Tennis Center in Florence. The championship is Carolina Forest’s second in three seasons.

Carolina Forest defeated Riverside in 2021 for the school’s first championship.

And the Panthers are primed for more success in the future Carolina didn’t start a senior in its matches against Spartanburg., which was making its first championship appearance since 2018.

Carolina Forest finished the season with a 15-1 record and have only lost three matches during the past three seasons. The Panthers made it to the lower state championship last season before losing to Socastee.

The Panthers didn’t drop a set in defeating the Vikings. Singles match winners included junior Olivia Bull (6-2, 6-2), sophomore Katie Godree (6-3, 6-0), junior Kristina Miroff (6-1, 6-0), junior Payton Yates (6-1, 6-0) and freshman Ellie Yates (6-0).

Freshman Mayissa Dorcely and eighth grader Helena Butwin won their doubles match, 6-3, 6-4.

Carolina Forest dropped only two matches in its four postseason victories. The Panthers, who received a bye in the first round, defeated Berkeley (6-0), West Ashley (6-0) and then Conway (6-2) to make it to the championship.