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Pirates' Siegel, Stoll move on in regionals
Panthers' Lane, Outlaw also advance
GREENVILLE - Swansboro's doubles team of Danny Siegel and Tony Stoll cruised through the first two rounds of the NCHSAA 2-A Individual Regional tournament at River Birch Tennis Center on Friday.
Siegel and Stoll, seeded third, opened with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Noah Gotch and Eric Spafford of North Brunswick. The Pirates' top duo then followed with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Greyson Burns and Jesse Sechler from St. Pauls.
"They really played well," Swansboro head coach Jim Sheehan said. "They were very aggressive. Both of them served well, they volleyed well. I was very pleased. I thought they played very high-class doubles today."
Siegel and Stoll advance to today's semifinals, also at River Birch, where they will face the No. 1 seeded pairing of William Gray and Taylor Sullivan from First Flight.
Gray and Sullivan finished second in the state last year and Sheehan expects his duo to "have their hands full" today.
"They are the real deal," Sheehan said of Gray and Sullivan. "It's definitely stacked against them."
Sheehan won't count out Siegel and Stoll, but no matter what happens today they should be proud of their accomplishments.
"They're both very competitive kids and ... they're going to go out there, they're going to try their very best and whatever happens, happens," he said. "They've qualified for states, they've had a great year. Whatever happens tomorrow is gravy."
A pair of East Duplin players also remained alive in the singles tournament.
Nolan Outlaw and Tyson Lane each won a pair of matches and will continue action today. Outlaw opened with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Swansboro's Nick Thaxton, then topped Nick Alfano from Croatan in the second round.
Lane took care of Josh Giambra from St. Pauls in the first round then followed with a win over Tyler Edmonson of Edenton Holmes.
"Nolan hit the ball a ton today," Sheehan said. "He really, really played well today."
Each player qualified for the state individual championships by virtue of making the semifinals. The state tournament will be held next Friday at Cary Tennis Center.
