Wednesday’s high school sports briefs
Fresh off a Class AAA state championship, the Myrtle Beach girls tennis team is getting back to business.
The Seahawks dropped just one singles match en route to a 5-1 victory at home Wednesday over Socastee in their season opener.
“The team looks good this year; we’re deep again,” Myrtle Beach coach Jeri Himmelsbach said. “We’ve got a lot of returning talent.”
However, the Seahawks have lost one of their best players in last year’s No. 2 Rachel Berkey, The Sun News’ 2013 Toast of the Coast Player of the Year, who is playing collegiately at Erskine College.
Still, Myrtle Beach is returning sophomore Elizabeth Truluck, the 2014 Toast of the Coast Player of the Year, but she didn’t play in the season opener. Taking Truluck’s place at No. 1 on Wednesday was Emma Spring, who fell to Socastee’s No. 1 Anna Brice Cox.
“We were missing [Truluck],” Himmelsbach said.
Meanwhile, the Seahawks have a strong tradition of winning state titles as they’ve racked up 15 in the past 30 years. Himmelsbach said she doesn’t want to get ahead of herself, though.
“We’re looking forward to a great season. The girls are excited but we don’t want to get too confident,” she said. “We’re taking it one match at a time but our talent is definitely deep this year.”
▪ Singles: Anna Brice Cox (SOC) d. Emma Springs 6-2, 3-6, 10-6; Bailey Deskins (MB) d. Joy Renfrow 6-1, 6-1; Paxton Gentry (MB) d. Kristian Case 6-0, 6-1; Sarah Woodard (MB) d. Hannah Bean 6-0, 6-0; Catherine Truluck (MB) d. Marie Benedetti 6-1, 6-2.
▪ Doubles: Cayce Roberts/Janell Horton (MB) d. Nicole Mortell/Kyndal Hodge 6-0, 6-1.
▪ Records: Myrtle Beach 1-0, Socastee N/A.
High school girls tennis
▪ (At) Christian Academy of Myrtle Beach 9, St. James 0 | Tatiana Harrelson and Caroline Gore each won in singles and teamed up in doubles for a victory as the Saints shut out the Sharks.
In No. 3 singles, Gore was down 5-0 in the first set and rallied back to win a 10-point tie breaker over Amelie Brichzin.
▪ Singles: Tatiana Harrelson (CA) d. Christina Rivera 6-0, 6-0; Chloe Parker (CA) d. Maaike Van Oers 6-2, 6-4; Caroline Gore (CA) d. Amelie Brichzin 4-6, 6-4 (10-7) 1-0; Grace Houghton (CA) d. Bailey Rabon 6-1, 6-3; Sam Fanning (CA) d. Melissa Iczkowski 6-2, 6-4; Ashley Bass (CA) d. Chelsea Lewis 6-1, 6-1.
▪ Doubles: Harrelson/Gore (CA) d. Rivera/Rabon 8-0; Parker/Houghton (CA) d. Lewis/Kaitlin Glover 8-4; Greer Houghton/Fanning (CA) d. Katrina Gallo/Hanna Drew 8-1.
▪ Records: Christian Academy 3-0, St. James 1-2.
▪ Aynor 4, (at) Carolina Forest 2 | In a rematch from last week, the Blue Jackets picked up another win over the Panthers.
Eva Vandoros had Carolina Forest’s only singles win, while Brittany Morgan and Joslyn McCray won in doubles for the Panthers.
▪ Singles: Gentry Johnston (A) d. Drew Limpasuvan 6-4, 6-0; Eva Vandoros (CF) d. Heleana Toth 7-6, 4-6, 10-8; Shelley Baker (A) d. Jaden Nye 6-4, 6-1; Sarah Grace Evans (A) d. Sophia Gouhin 6-2, 6-0; Rilee Rabon (A) d. Casey Mallon 6-2, 6-0.
▪ Doubles: Brittany Morgan/Joslyn McCray (CF) d. Rebekah Altman/Chelsie Rabon 6-2, 6-0.
High school volleyball
▪ (At) Carolina Forest 2, Waccamaw 0 | While the Panthers remained undefeated with a win over the Warriors (25-12, 25-14), Brittany Drew also picked up her 100th career win as coach of Carolina Forest. Alexis Tomlin had a team-high 10 kills and Ellissa Smalls had six kills, nine service points and five aces.
▪ (At) Carolina Forest 2, Johnsonville 0 | Kenzlie Andresen had six kills and Ellissa Smalls added five kills as the Panthers beat the Flashes (25-17, 25-10).
▪ (At) Myrtle Beach 3, Socastee 1 | Myrtle Beach dropped the first game but won the next three as the Seahawks edged the Braves (20-25, 28-26, 25-21, 25-20).
Cassie Runyon paced Myrtle Beach with 17 kills, while Maggie Slabinski and Gracie Davis contributed nine kills apiece. Meanwhile, Ally Bills picked up 21 assists for the Seahawks (2-0).
This story was originally published September 2, 2015 at 10:56 PM with the headline "Wednesday’s high school sports briefs."