Panther women’s tennis is eying their third straight Mountain Seven title.
After a nine-day hiatus due to Tropical Storm Helene, the team returned to action Oct. 3 with a home match versus Rabun Gap-Nacoochee. In a 9-0 win they improved to 11-1 overall, with one more conference match remaining on the schedule.
Having suffered their first loss in more than two full regular seasons in Georgia Aug. 30, the Panthers hosted the Eagles in Franklin to attempt to exact revenge. After beating the Panthers 5-4 in the teams’ first meeting, Rabun Gap looked much different in the rematch, traveling without their top singles player.
With the Eagles’ remaining players each forced to play above their usual slots, Franklin’s top three took care of business on their home court, with seniors Kate Phillips (#1), Abigal Angel (#2) and Maci Stork (#3) earning convincing singles wins.
The #4 match featured multiple wild swings of momentum, with senior Caroline Deal winning a hard-fought first set 7-5. After dropping the second set in a 6-0 shutout, Deal gained a second wind in the match tiebreak, cruising to a 10-3 win roughly two hours after the match’s first serve.
At #5 junior Clara Stork also played a hotly-contested match, winning the first set 6-3 but dropping the second set 6-4. Stork claimed the match tiebreak 10-6, while junior Marlee Barnes (#6) won 7-5, 6-2 to give Franklin a clean singles sweep.
With the contest’s outcome already decided, both teams elected to play doubles to give players more time on the court, where Phillips and Angel cruised to an 8-3 victory at #1.
At #2 Deal was forced into her second match tiebreak of the night, joining Maci Stork to play their opponents to an 8-8 deadlock. The seniors won the tiebreak 7-3, while Stork and Barnes also won narrowly 8-6 at #3.
After routing the Eagles 9-0, Franklin’s schedule remained uncertain for the final week of the regular season. As the region dealt with the fallout from Hurricane Helene, the Panthers were forced to postpone two Mountain Seven Conference matches, a Sept. 30 clash with Smoky Mountain and a trip to West Henderson Oct. 2.
While coach Heather Bell was able to reschedule the match with Smoky to Oct. 7 (after press time), West still had not returned to school as of that day, as Henderson County continued to deal with the storm’s aftermath. The Falcons ended the week in second place in the conference at 7-1 behind the 10-0 Panthers. As of Oct. 7, Franklin and West were the 9th and 10th-ranked teams, respectively, in the 3A West Region.
“I thought it’d be kind of hard, but it was very refreshing to have everybody back together again,” said Maci Stork of playing Franklin’s first official contest following the storm. “Obviously a lot is still up in the air, but hopefully everything’s gonna get worked out.”
With others in the conference still without power, water and basic necessities, Stork said it felt a bit strange to be back on the court so soon. As Macon County largely avoided the worst of the storm’s destruction, the FHS Athlete of the Month said her team wanted to help some of their less fortunate conference rivals.
“Me and Caroline were playing yesterday just rallying back and forth at practice, and we were talking about how we feel guilty that we’re just going back to school,” she said. “Pisgah is probably the closest to us that was affected, and we know how bad it was there. We’re really close with the girls there, and so we wanted to get together and host a meal for them and their families and friends. Hopefully we can do that some time next week.”
Following their match with Rabun Gap, on Oct. 5 the Panthers turned their attention to other recovery efforts, packing donated food and supplies into bags for delivery to those affected by the storm.