Foxes’ tennis nipped by Carolina Forest

Carolina Forest edged the Red Foxes Wednesday afternoon at Byerly Park in varsity boys’ tennis action by a score of 4-3.

Steven Arthur took the number one singles spot for the Foxes and fell 6-3, 6-3 to Carolina Forest’s Brendan Nagle. In number two singles action, Hartsville’s Noah Stanley dropped two sets to Zach Johnson 6-3, 6-2.

George Atkins played three hard-fought sets against Carolina Forest’s Troy Swartling. In one of the longest matches of the day, Atkins fell 7-6, 4-6, 7-10.

Red Fox Zach Grooms fell in the number four singles match 6-1, 6-2 to Chris Fosherry.

Hartsville’s lone singles winner was Rod Russell in the number five singles match. Russell defeated Josephy Weshefsky 6-4, 6-1.

The number two doubles team of Hanson Kirk and Cody Johnson gave Hartsville an easy point as they won 6-1, 6-0 over Luke Hancock and Austin Vought.

Since the number three singles match lasted longer than the other singles matches, the two teams played the tiebreaker with the number one doubles team. Hartsville’s Arthur and Stanley won the match over Nagle and Johnson 8-3 in a pro set.

The loss evens the Foxes’ record at 1-1 on the season.

Head coach Brain Howell said the season’s prospects are promising. “This is shaping up into a solid team,” Howell said. “We’ve got a good team. We’re just going to have to put it together at the right time.”

Howell said he also feels like the region is going to be competitive this season. “The region is wide open this year,” he said. “There are going to be some close matches, and whoever wins those close matches is going to win (the region championship).”

The coach said his hopes are to make a run at the region title. “I would like to make a good, solid run at first or second (place).”

However, he said the competitive nature of the region will be tough. “The chips are going to have to fall in our direction, so to speak,” he said.

Howell also listed George Atkins and Rod Russell as players who are exceeding expectations early on in the season. He said their play has been a huge boost to the team. The coach also listed the number two doubles team of Johnson and Kirk as players who are performing very well.

The Foxes will face Darlington Thursday evening at 4:30 p.m. and will travel to face Conway Friday at 5:30 p.m.