Cyclones drop rain-suspended match

By Matt Hill
STAR STAFF
mhill@starhq.com

   The rain stayed away on Wednesday, and Elizabethton High School tennis coach Danny O'Quinn wishes it had on April 7 as well.
   Elizabethton came into yesterday's suspended tennis match with Unicoi County leading in both the boys and the girls, but ended up losing both matches after the suspended matches were completed.
   The Cyclone boys fell 6-3 after being up 3-1, while the Unicoi girls rallied from behind to defeat the Lady Cyclones by the same score.
   Rain started falling two Monday's ago that forced the suspension of the match. O'Quinn felt like his team just couldn't get the momentum back on Wednesday.
   "I definitely think it would have been a different outcome," O'Quinn said. "The guys were up 3-1, the girls were about to go up 3-1. The rain came and we had to stop four matches that were right in the middle of play.
   "We were winning two of them on each side. When we picked up today, we just didn't have the momentum. The matches we were ahead in when the rain came, we ended up losing those and ended up costing us both the boys and girls the whole match."
   The boys were tied at 3-3 going into the doubles, but Unicoi ended up winning all three doubles matches to pull out the victory.
   On the girls side, a bright spot for EHS came when Allison Parlier and Abby Bremer pulled out an 11-9 victory over Kimberly Banner and Paula Edwards.
   "They had a great doubles match," O'Quinn said. "They hung in and even though the match was already decided, it was just that pride that they didn't want to lose. They came through for me. I'm very proud of the way they played. They both played great.
   Bremer was happy with the thrilling victory, but wasn't too happy with the overall match result.
   "It's very disappointing, because I think we can beat them," Bremer said. "That's just how it goes."
   The EHS defeat means the Lady Cyclones will not be able to get back to the state as a team, so Parlier will be working even that much harder to get back to where the squad was at a year ago.
   "It will give me more motivation, and I think I will be doing pretty good," Parlier said. "I just hope we all get stronger, and we all will do better as a team."
   The Cyclones will be back in action today at Volunteer.
   EHS NOTES:
   * In play on April 7, David Reece, Curtis Brumit and Devin Johnson all won matches for the EHS boys. Parlier and Liz Dove took wins for the Lady Cyclones.
   * The District 1-AA Tournament is scheduled to start next Thursday, but due to a backlog of matches because of the rain, the event could be pushed back a few days.