Tennis -- Worthington, Smith pace N. Lenoir

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on August 22, 2004 2:00 AM

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KINSTON -- North Lenoir swept the singles matches and rolled past Kinston 6-0 in a non-conference girls encounter Friday afternoon on the Bill Fay Park courts.

"I was very proud of the team today," first-year Hawks coach Courtney Harrell said. "We pulled out two close matches at number one and two singles."

Morgan Worthington, the top seed, dispatched the Vikings' Morgan Holloman 6-1, 6-4. Meanwhile, Mary-Linton Smith earned her first-ever victory against Katie Keith in come-from-behind fashion. Keith claimed the first set before Smith rallied 4-6, 6-1, 7-3.

"The girls showed a lot of support for each other when things got tight and that can make a lot of difference in a close match," Harrell said. "I hope today will be a confidence builder for Mary-Linton.

"Morgan had an excellent showing against Holloman, who is an outstanding player. She came out strong and never let Holloman gain a lead."

Ruthanne Hardy, Debbie Vandiford, Rachel Sasser and Heather Phillips each picked a straight-set win for the Hawks.

North Lenoir (2-1) travels to Wilson Beddingfield next Monday afternoon.

North Lenoir 6, Kinston 0

Singles -- No. 1 Morgan Worthington (NL) d. Morgan Holloman 6-1, 6-4; No. 2 Mary-Linton Smith (NL) d. Katie Keith 4-6, 6-1, 7-3; No. 3 Ruthanne Hardy (NL) d. Jesse Anderson 6-2, 6-0; No. 4 Debbie Vandiford (NL) d. Stuart Edwards 6-0, 6-3; No. 5 Rachel Sasser (NL) d. Sarah Culbreth 6-1, 6-0; No. 6 Heather Phillips (NL) d. Brittany Harris 6-0, 6-1.

Doubles -- Not contested.