Seahawks break hex, punch ticket back to girls’ tennis state final

Forgive Sarah Wood and Holly Kerr if the achievement needed a few beats to fully hit home. Well, perhaps more than a few beats.

As Kerr came off the court victorious in a three-set nail-biter Monday, the Hilton Head Island seniors caught each other’s eye, seemingly unsure how to react. After a few moments huddled off together, they returned secure in the news.

After three years of Lower State heartache, the Seahawks are headed back to the state final.

“Some small tears of joy,” said Seahawks coach Jennifer Weitekamper, relating the story.

Kerr’s match delivered the decisive point in what became a 5-1 Hilton Head victory over host AC Flora, clinching the Class 4A Lower State crown. The Seahawks will play for the state title Saturday against Greenville at the Cayce Tennis Center.

It will be Hilton Head’s first appearance in a state final since 2012, when the Seahawks captured the last of six consecutive Class 3A crowns. The ensuing years found them agonizingly one step short of a return trip, each time falling in the Lower State final to eventual winners Myrtle Beach.

Wood and Kerr were part of those 2012 champions, along with fellow senior Nicole Diaz. Now they have the chance to bookend their high school careers with titles.

“It was a dry spell,” Weitekamper said, “and their hearts wanted it.”

Wood took a straight-sets victory at No.1 singles over Flora’s Racquel Acco, while Ariella Stepleman and Sydney Hall also were singles winners. Henry Clare Cram ran into a buzzsaw in a straight-sets loss to Katherine Cromer.

That left Kerr’s tangle with Megan Pleasant as the only singles match on the court. Pleasant’s relentless returns allowed her to get off to a quick start with a 6-3 first set, but Kerr adjusted to win the second 7-5 and send the match to a tiebreaker.

“It got intense,” Weitekamper said, “but Holly stayed focused for the win.”

Kerr prevailed 10-6 in the tiebreaker, setting off the subdued celebration.

“She earned it,” Weitekamper said. “She fought a good tiebreaker. If I had a game ball to give, I’d give it to Holly.”

With Hilton Head getting all the necesssary points via singles, the matches ended on something of a confusing note as Falcons coach Amy Martin called her doubles tandem of Carolyn Cobb and Bess Watson off the court in mid-match.

Hilton Head’s Diaz and Isabel Muehleman go down as winners by forfeit, notching the fifth point.

“We were all like, ‘Ohhhh?’ ” Weitekamper said. “There was no (celebrating) until we got to the bus. They waited until the parking lot to do their dance. The bus driver wasn’t even aware they’d won until they started screaming.”

Now that the Lower State hurdle has been cleared, the Seahawks (16-6) now hope to pick up where they left off at their last visit to the state final four years ago.

“Our goal was to get to states,” Weitekamper said. “Now we’ll just play and what happens, happens. You have to own it. ... There’s really no coaching on Saturday. You’re just reminding them that every point counts.”

This story was originally published November 8, 2016 at 1:09 AM with the headline "Seahawks break hex, punch ticket back to girls’ tennis state final."