Hoggard claims NCHSAA 8A singles, doubles state titles
The Hoggard girls tennis program pulled off a rare feat Saturday morning at Millbrook Exchange Park in Raleigh by winning NCHSAA 8A state titles in both singles and doubles.
Sophomore Braelyn Roberson improved to 16-0 on the season with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Myers Park’s Lila Cheatwood to become just the second Viking to lift the singles trophy.
Roberson joined two-time champion Kaitlin Burns (2006 and 2007), who later went on to play at LSU.
A thrilling doubles final went to a deciding-set tiebreaker, with sophomore Zannah Roberson and senior Audrey Sica prevailing by a score of 7-5, 2-6, 7-6(2) over Millbrook’s Camryn Dysart and Carson Margulies to improve their record to 13-0.
The duo joins two other state championship teams from Hoggard: Burns and Maggie Dickens (2008), as well as Macy Morrison and Elizabeth Vollmin (2021).
Hoggard became just the fourth team since the NCHSAA went to four classifications (it has since gone to eight) in 1986 to sweep both the singles and doubles titles at the highest classifications. It last happened in 2002.
“What a monumental day for the Hoggard tennis family,” coach Michael Bowen said. “We talk a lot about how vision comes before victory, and all three girls have been envisioning this moment since the start of the season. Now, they will forever be called state champions.”
A year ago, Braelyn Roberson reached the semifinals before falling to eventual state champion Devin Gilroy.
On Saturday, she got off to a quick start by building leads of 3-0 and 4-1. Cheatwood steadied her game and won back-to-back games to close the gap, but a hold followed by a break of serve gave Roberson the opening set.
The second set went much the same, with Roberson leading 5-1 before dropping consecutive games. She regrouped nicely by once again getting a break, which was capped by a 16-shot match point in which she hit all backhands. When Cheatwood’s final shot ended up in the net, Roberson let out a loud, “Come on.”
Hoggard’s Braelyn Roberson. [Tim Hower/Coastal Preps]
Roberson reached the final by earning victories over Myers Park’s Annelise Conrad (6-0, 6-0) and Green Level’s Leah Dickson (6-1, 3-6, 6-2) on Friday.
Millbrook had a strong contingent of fans watching the doubles final, but the Vikings didn’t flinch. It was a rematch of last week’s 8A East Regional final, which Zanna Roberson and Sica won 6-4, 6-4.
Roberson won a long service game that went to eight deuces to begin the match.
The opening set remained close as neither team was able to build a lead of more than one game. Sica held serve to put Hoggard up 6-5, and then a break ended it.
Hoggard’s Zannah Roberson (left) and Audrey Sica. [Tim Hower/Coastal Preps]
The Wildcats continued fighting, saving a match point at 5-3, and then taking a 6-5 lead with a break of serve.
Another break following a double fault at 15-40 sent the match to a deciding tiebreak. Roberson and Sica won four consecutive points to take a 4-1 lead. After dropping the next point and then switching sides of the court, the duo reeled off three consecutive points to finish off the thrilling victory when a return from Margulies off a serve from Roberson sailed wide.
“We had to dig deep to get over the finish line, but I could not be more proud of the way we battled today,” Sica said.
Their two wins on Friday both came in straight sets over Providence’s Sage Adams/Kahmini Krishnan (6-1, 6-0) and Panther Creek’s Samantha Barnes/Elizabeth Shvetsova (6-1, 6-2).
Hoggard now looks to achieve an even rarer feat by adding the dual team state championship to its list of achievements. Only 13 programs among all classifications have won all three titles during the same season.
The Vikings host Green Level on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. in the 8A East final. The winner will then take on defending state champion Myers Park on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. at Burlington Tennis Complex.
