Lee County’s tennis team appears to be on a collision course with a state playoff invitation after notching two more conference wins this week.
The Yellow Jackets, currently rated at 22nd in the NCHSAA 3A East RPI, hosted Scotland on Tuesday and then visited Southern Lee on Wednesday, and swept both matches. The teams only played singles in the Scotland match and the Jackets took all six matches, and then scored a 9-0 sweep of Southern in the rematch between the county rivals.
Lee is now 6-5 overall and 5-5 in conference play. The Yellow Jackets are done with the SAC until the conference tournament, since Hoke County did not field a men’s tennis team this spring. They will play in the 3A version of the Sandhills Athletic Conference tournament on Monday and Tuesday to determine regional qualifiers, and also have a Thursday non-conference dual match scheduled for Thursday at Harnett Central to end the regular season. Lee beat the Trojans 6-3 at home on March 12.
In the Scotland match, four of the six Jackets swept their single-set match 6-0. Serving the bagel were Nathan Jones (1), Finley Benton (2), Hunter Jackson (4) and Carter Osborne (6). Third-seeded Ben Klug won his match 6-3, and fifth-seed Jayden Gibbs won 6-4.
Jackson was named the player of the match by the Lee coaching staff.
Information was limited on the Southern Lee match, but in the singles, the Yellow Jackets used the same lineup and Jones pitched another shutout, winning 8-0. Benton won 8-1, Klug 8-2, Jackson 8-3, Gibbs 8-1, and Osborne 8-4. Klug was named the player of the match.
