Momentum from a successful Potomac Valley Conference Tennis Tournament was in full swing on senior night as Moorefield Tennis swept Philip Barbour in a nearly perfect match winning all games except one doubles competition last Wednesday in the last regular season match.
A special ceremony was held as the doubles matches were just underway for Moorefield seniors Nautica Crosco, Chris Korringa and Corey McCullough.
Crosco plans to attend West Virginia University studying to become a sports statistician, Korringa will study in the Potomac State College of WVU Honors Program seeking a degree to become a pharmacist and McCullough is joining the United States Air Force.
Coming off a PVC boys team championship, the Yellow Jackets kept buzzing with a complete sweep in all singles and doubles matches against the Colts.
Moorefield Boys Tennis No.1 Doubles team featuring senior Corey McCullough and sophomore Daury Sanchez finished as the PVC runner-up, then responded with an 8-nil shutout over Philip Barbour’s Trenton Chevalier and Ruston Seaman.
Moorefield Boys No. 2 Doubles pair of junior Nick Simpson and sophomore Jonathan Smith won the PVC championship and defeated Philip Barbour’s Cameron Whetzel and Dylan Wolfe 8-1.
Smith’s service accuracy and baseline defense along with Simpson’s quick backhand reactions at the net for return volleys were beneficial in the win.
Moorefield Boys No. 3 Doubles players of sophomore Curtis Moran and freshman Atikilt Tamiru claimed the PVC title and won by forfeit against Philip Barbour.
In an exhibition match, Moorefield seniors Chirs Korringa and Corey McCullough won 6-4.
Korringa created good serves and had solid timing on returning volleys for points, while McCullough controlled the net area.
The Colts duo showed great sportsmanship, giving compliments to Korringa on his serves and volleys.
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Moorefield Boys Tennis No.1 Singles senior Corey McCullough was a PVC semifinalist and delivered his first victory of the season against Philip Barbour’s Trenton Chevalier by a score of 8-6.
Good serves and cross court volleys with some lobs helped McCullough earn the win.
McCullough was thrilled to get his first singles win and the rest of the boys team rushed over to give him a congratulatory hug.
“This was a big win, because it was my first win this year. I started a winning streak,” Moorefield senior Corey McCullough noted.
Simpson was the PVC runner-up in No. 2 boys singles and served up an 8-1 victory over Philip Barbour’s Ruston Seaman.
Simpson’s aerial serve created a plethora of points and the use of the court running back and forth for proper placement enabled the win.
“Moorefield Tennis is pretty good, especially the boys. They are definitely in the top-5, but all the other teams we played are undefeated. We had some close matches for the girls,” Philip Barbour Tennis coach Wendy Moats stated.
Moorefield No. 3 boys singles seed and PVC runner-up Jonathan Smith ousted Philip Barbour’s Cameron Whetzel with a score of 8-0.
Smith made excellent cross-court volleys and kept the ball in play throughout the match to gain the advantage.
PVC champion Daury Sanchez kept his winning streak going in the No. 4 boys singles match for the Yellow Jackets against Philip Barbour’s Dylan Wolfe with an 8-1 victory.
Sanchez made good volleys and delivered solid serves to conquer Wolfe.
Since the boys team won the PVC title, Moorefield Coach Traci Eskridge Alley was named the PVC Boys Tennis Coach of the Year.
The Moorefield Girls Tennis squad took home PVC team runner-up honors overall.
Moorefield No. 1 Girls Doubles pair of juniors Cara Jo Long and Haley Gallahan finished as the PVC runner-up and battled for a 9-7 victory over Philip Barber’s Mikala Starkey and Cloie Masesso.
Long and Gallahan overcame some unforced errors by finding a groove in volleys to secure the win.
Gallahan made solid serves late in the match and Long had good net play jumping up and stretching to smash the ball over.
Moorefield No. 2 Girls Doubles team of juniors Kim Miller and Kristin Duncan picked up a forfeit win against the Lady Colts and placed as PVC semifinalists.
PVC champion No. 3 girls doubles team of sophomores Julie Bowen and Taylor Lyons fought hard against Philip Barbour’s Molly Clark and Skylar Beohm, but fell short in a tiebreaker 8-8 (7-2).
Bowen and Lyons maintained good volley techniques, but the Lady Colts evenly matched up with returns before some errors crept into play spelling defeat.
Moorefield Girls Tennis No. 1 seed senior Nautica Crosco won the PVC championship and kept lobbing and serving aces to earn an 8-2 victory against Philip Barbour’s Starkey.
Moorefield Girls Tennis No. 2 seed Cara Jo Long was the PVC runner-up and stepped on the court against Philip Barbour’s Molly Clark to serve up an 8-3 victory with good placement on various angles hit across the court.
Haley Gallahan finished as the PVC runner-up in the No. 3 seed division for the Yellow Jackettes, then rebounded over Philip Barbour’s Kilea Payne with a score of 8-2.
Moorefield Girls Tennis No. 4 seed Kim Miller was the PVC runner-up and edged out Philip Barbour’s Cloie Masesso 9-7.
Miller timed jumps at the net quite well to save lobs from sailing behind her and maintained composure in the long match to take the win with solid serves in the latter part of it.
Moorefield Tennis will compete in the Region II Tournament held in Clarksburg on May 3-5 in hopes of earning state tournament berths in Charleston on May 10-12.
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