Pearsons rule all-Fike QCC doubles final

Siblings Snyder and Collins Pearson took home what they hope is the first of several achievements this spring for their Fike High boys tennis team when the brothers claimed the 3-A Quad County Conference doubles crown Wednesday at the conference championships at Smithfield-Selma High.

On the tournament’s third day, C.B. Aycock’s Ethan Carlyle outlasted Hunt senior Alex Ellis 6-3, 6-4 in the singles championship match that was played at Fike High on Thursday afternoon.

Pearson-Pearson won the all-Fike final when teammates Dylan Skinner-Zachary Hill retired after trailing 3-1 in the second set. The Golden Demons’ No. 1 duo won the first set 6-3. Fike head coach Lee Matthews said the players stopped the match twice to confer before deciding to end it after the second summit at the net, opining that the inevitability of the outcome as well as the risk of injury were the major factors.

Still, it came as no surprise that the court was full of Demons in the doubles final. It is the third QCC championship for Snyder Pearson, who teamed with classmate Hatten Gore for the QCC doubles title as sophomores in 2022 on their way to the regional championship. Pearson then won the QCC singles crown last spring. Once younger brother Collins showed up at Fike from Elm City Middle this year, the plan was put in place for the Pearsons to play doubles when the postseason rolled around.

“I expected them to win the conference,” Matthews said. “I expected them to be playing Dylan and Zach in the final is exactly what I expected when I saw what the field looked like and when I had a chance to go through the year, watching the other teams play and then I saw what the entries were and I expected us to be playing ourselves for the championship.”

Matthews said that he could see this spring coming years earlier, having known both Pearson brothers since they were much younger.

“I’d heard how good a doubles player Collins was from way back and, as far as doubles players, he has not disappointed,” Matthews said. “He has showed that he’s got a great set of hands at the net. Both of them have excellent hands at the net. Both of them are fearless at the net.”

Matthews cited an instance during a preseason jamboree when the Pearsons were playing doubles against Greene Central, including state 2-A semifinalist William Drake, a Wilson Bulldogs teammate of theirs in Junior Team Tennis. Drake tried to rip a shot past Collins Pearson, who deftly dropped a return winner back over the net. Matthews said at that point, he and assistant coach Greg Adkins knew the freshman would do just fine.

The Pearsons got a first-round bye before spanking South Johnston’s Noah Boykin-Isaac Johnson 6-0, 6-0 in the quarterfinals of the tournament that began Tuesday. and taking down C.B. Aycock’s Aric Martin-Jack Williams 6-2, 6-0 in the semifinals.

Skinner-Hill, the No. 2 seed, breezed past Smithfield-Selma’s Marcelo Pena Jeronimo-Carlos de la Cruz 6-1, 6-1 in the first before blanking Hunt’s Gavin Harris-Jake Mauze 6-0, 6-0. The competition tightened up for the second Demons duo in the semifinals as West Johnston’s Caden Horay-Luke Prevatte eventually fell 6-2, 6-3.

Pearson-Pearson then won its 14th doubles match without a loss to advance to the NCHSAA 3-A East Regional, which Snyder Pearson won with Gore as a sophomore and was the singles runner-up against Greenville Rose’s Stockton Rouse at the regional last year. Skinner-Hill, the reigning QCC champion, lost in the final for a second time, succumbing to Pearson-Gore in 2022.

Cian Bonner will be Fike’s other regional entry after beating South Johnston’s Logan Tyler 6-0, 6-0 in a consolation singles match as the eight-team conference will send its top six finishers to regional. Bonner fell in the second round to C.B Aycock’s Journey Perry. The other Fike player, Aidan Bonner, lost to Hunt’s Anthony Romero in the other consolation final.

“Now the key is to let’s refocus, let’s tighten up a little bit and be ready to take on a regional field that’s going to have the defending champion (First Flight’s Anthony Vucinovic-J.J. Woerner) in it, coming back and I think there’s a couple other pretty good teams in there,” Matthews said. “And then let’s win the first day at regionals and qualify for states.”

Ellis and Carlyle are headed back to the 3-A East Regional after their QCC finals rematch from 2022. Ellis downed Kevin Chen of SSS and South Johnston’s Tyler without losing a point to reach the semifinals about CBA’s Perry. Carlyle shut out Ethan Eaton of East Wake and Fike’s Aidan Bonner before taking down South Johnston’s Patricio Moreno Garcia 6-1, 6-1. Hunt’s Romero lost to Moreno Garcia 7-6(2), 6-0 in the quarterfinals.

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