Hunt’s Owens, Fike’s Biamby-Ellis rule QCC

SMITHFIELD — A year ago at the 3-A Quad County Conference girls tennis tournament, Fike High teammates Kaden Biamby and Holland Ellis were trying to beat each other for the conference singles title while Hunt’s Reagan Owens was just trying to stay alive.

Now all three are Quad County champions after Biamby and Ellis teamed to give Fike its sixth straight conference doubles championship while Owens claimed her first QCC crown on the courts at Smithfield-Selma High on Wednesday, Oct. 9.

With the graduation of three-time QCC doubles champion (and 2022 NCHSAA 3-A doubles champ) Kathryn Adkins and Caroline Adkins, Biamby and Ellis ascended not only into the top two singles slots but also the No. 1 doubles pairing at Fike. The top-seeded tandem kept the tradition going with wins over West Johnston’s Nadia Barnes-Olivia Byrd and Smithfield-Selma’s Anyia Richardson-Kathryn Taylor on Tuesday to set up a semifinals matchup with No. 4 seed Rachel Brewer-Kaylee Cox of South Johnston. The Trojans duo put up the best fight but Biamby-Ellis scrapped to a 6-1, 6-3 win to advance to the final where they met C.B. Aycock’s Kannyn Fail-Madison Smith. The Golden Falcons pair, seeded third, had spilled No. 2 Zoe Mitchell-Emory Skinner of Fike 6-0, 2-6, 6-3 in the semis but Fail-Smith was no match for Biamby-Ellis in a 6-0, 6-1 execution.

“Holland and Kaden absolutely dominated in the finals,” said Fike head coach Lee Matthews. “It’s the best I’ve seen them play this year!”

That might apply to Hunt’s Owens, who reversed her 2023 QCC tourney experience with a dominating performance this time around. The Warriors senior swept past East Wake’s Grace Smith and West Johnston’s Bella Drown without giving up a point Tuesday. South Johnston’s Olivia Myers claimed the only point off Owens in the two days in a 6-0, 6-1 semifinals loss Wednesday.

Owens then topped teammate and Hunt No. 2 singles Callie Mooring by an 8-0 margin in the pro-set final. Mooring, the No. 3 seed, stopped No. 2 Alyssa Newton of South Johnston 6-1, 6-0 in the semifinals.

Owens added the QCC singles crown to the 3-A East Regional title she won in 2023 after making the regional through the QCC consolation bracket.

Because the QCC has eight schools, there were five singles qualifiers and six doubles qualifiers for the 3-A East Regional that will be held Oct. 18-19 at North Carolina Wesleyan University in Rocky Mount.

Fike’s Mitchell-Skinner earned a repeat trip to the regional along with Brewer-Cox as well as Hunt’s Emma Reel-Darcy Davis and C.B. Aycock’s Miya Pitt-Aubrey Edmundson. Reel-Davis, ousted in the quarterfinals by CBA’s Fail-Smith, downed Southern Wayne’s Charity Van Dyke-Kylie Hyden 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 in their consolation match.

In singles, the top four — Hunt’s Owens and Mooring and South Johnston’s Myers and Newton — were joined by CBA’ Allie Gray who beat West Johnston’s Drown and Falcons teammate Laura Moore in the consolation bracket.

The post Hunt’s Owens, Fike’s Biamby-Ellis rule QCC first appeared on Restoration NewsMedia .