So far, so good for Christ School tennis in the Carolinas Athletic Association.
The Greenies took another potential step to their first conference championship since 2018 with Tuesday’s 9-0 home win over Asheville Christian Academy.
Michael Drendel ’23 is the lone senior in Christ School’s singles lineup and only dropped two games in his match at No. 1. Martin Gonzalez '25 fought off his opponent at No. 3 in a tiebreaker.
The Greenies (4-6, 2-0) won the remaining four singles matches and all three doubles matches.
Christ School 9, Asheville Christian Academy 0
Singles
Michael Drendel (CS) d. Oliver Poole 6-0, 6-2; Burnam Dubose (CS) d. Straton Black 7-5, 6-0; Martin Gonzalez d. Andrew Courcelle 3-6, 6-3 (13-11); William Paschall (CS) d. Carson Collier 6-0, 6-0; Benjie Bernstein (CS) d. Giannis Barlas 6-2, 6-1; Norwood Bryan (CS) Constantine Barlas 6-1, 6-0.
Doubles
Drendel-Sam Ludington (CS) d. Poole-Black 8-3; Paschall-Dubose (CS) d. Courcell-Collier 8-2; Bryan-Henry Warner (CS) d. G. Barlas-C. Barlas 8-2.
Special thanks to Coach Brenneman for this recap:
ACA came into the match 1-1 in conference play, with a win against Asheville School (5 to 4) and a loss to Carolina Day (1 to 8). Christ School was 1-0 with a win against Rabun Gap (6 to 3).
Christ School was without Ben Fedder (line 2), who was out with back soreness. Everyone else stepped up and was able to deliver a victory. Michael Drendel was joined at first doubles by Sam Ludington, who normally plays 2nd doubles, and they defeated Oliver Poole and Stratton Black 8-3. Burnam Dubose came down from 3rd doubles to join William Paschall in defeating Andrew Courcelle and Carson Collier 8-2. And Norwood Bryan and Henry Warner defeated Giannis Barlas and Constantine Barlas 8-2 at 3rd doubles.
The Greenies got comfortable singles wins at 1st (Drendel over Poole 6-0 6-2), 4th (Paschall over Collier 6-0 6-0), 5th (Benjie Bernstein over Giannis Barlas 6-2 6-1), and 6th (Bryan over Constantine Barlas 6-1 6-0). 2nd and 3rd singles were much more in the balance. At 2, Dubose battled through a tough first set to win 7-5 6-0 against Black. And at 3, Martin Gonzalez dropped the first set against Courcelle 3-6 before coming back in the second 6-3 and then winning a dramatic super-tiebreaker 13-11.
Christ School will play Carolina Day on 4/12. ACA plays Southlake Christian Academy before playing Carolina Day on 4/18.