‘It’s a tennis family’: Christ Church looks to advance to another state championship – Greenville News

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When current Christ Church Episcopal School senior girls tennis player Avery Nuckolls was in fifth gradeher older sister, Day Nuckolls, was about to start playing for the Cavaliers' varsity tennis program as a seventh grader.

Avery Nuckolls has been playing tennis since she was 4-years-old.She has won four state championships as a member of the Cavaliers, and is looking at a run to win Christ Church's fifth straight Class AA state championship this season.

Even with the success she's experienced, she still remembers wanting to play with her sister as an elementary school student on the Christ Church girls tennis team.

"I always wanted to be on the team with her," she said.

As the Cavaliersattemptto win the Class AA Upper State championship against Whitmire, and coach Sherry Adams goes for her 11th state championship in 14 seasons at Christ Church, one thing has been true of the Cavalier program throughout her time at the helm.

"Its a tennis family," she said of her program. "You can have a lot of good individuals...tennis can be a lonely sport for those who only play tournaments, but when they become a part of a team they realize that they have some cheerleaders."

Christ Church tennis player Mary Cage Carter hits a ball during a Class AA second round playoff matchup against St. Joseph's Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020.(Photo: RICHARD SHIRO/Contributor)

That family extends to players who started playing for the varsity team in middle school, according to current senior Mary Cage Carter.

Carter is the No. 3singles player for Christ Church andstarted playing for the Cavaliers in seventh grade. She has helped Christ Church win four state titlesand has alwaysfelt welcomed and challenged.

"I thought that I would be bottom of the ladder, or a practice player (in seventh grade) but at Christ Church no one is a practice player," she said."Coach Adams does a great job of putting us all in to get match experience, and that all pays off when were put into stressful situations like state or playoff matches when things get tight."

With each passing season, there is turnover and additions in locker rooms where players graduate, transfer in, or start playing in middle school or at the junior varsity level.

It can make keeping locker room synergy difficult, especially for a program that has won four straight state championships. For Christ Church, it's about making players feeling welcome from the second they come into the program.

Sarah Allen is the current No. 2 singles player for the Cavaliers as a senior, and is one of three captains along with Carter and Nuckolls.

Sarah Allen, tennis, Christ Church High School.(Photo: Ken Ruinard/Independent Mail)

She remembers the nerves of being a young player coming into a program that already had state titles, but also that the older players made her feel like she belonged from day one.

She views it as her job to do the same to new members of the program.

"When we came in as seventh graders everyone welcomed us, so thats what were trying to do with the seventh graders or transfers, just make them feel welcome so they can contribute to our team," she said.

Christ Church has won 73-straight dual matches in the regular season since 2016, and is 14-0 this season.

In most seasons Adams said the parents and fans have been a big part of supporting the tennis program, but with the COVID-19 pandemic impacting how many fans and parents can attend games the team has had to rely on each other for support.

Like in seasons past, Adams' players have had to come together to to create team camaraderie.

"With all our COVID guidelines, we couldnt have spectators for the first three matches so all we had was each other," she said."I think that helped bond the girls together."

Christ Church hosted St. Joseph's in a girls tennis round 2 playoff match Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020.(Photo: RICHARD SHIRO/Contributor)

Carter said that bond has been strong as the team has battled through the pandemic to get back to another upper state championship match.

She knows that along with Nuckolls and Allen, she will graduate and leave the program after this season. Christ Church continuing to win state titles is important to all three captains after they leave, so Carter and the other two seniors have tried to make sure they pave the way forward for the players who follow them to continue the Christ Church tradition.

"As captains we try to make everyone feel like we have an equal connection with them, so when we cheer them on it feels like it matters," she said."We try to be good friends with everyone on the team, and I think that pays off."

As a Class AA school, Christ Church is in a region with some of the smallest schools in terms of student enrollment in the state.

In order to prepare for tougher competition later in the season, Christ Church has decided to think bigger in recent years.

As part of their 14-0 record, the Cavaliers have wins against Class AAAAA opponents J.L. Mann, Spartanburg and T.L. Hanna.

Adams and the Cavaliers face those opponents each season, and if playersenter the program as middle schoolers they are more than ready for a state championship match by the time they are seniors.

Even if the matches against larger schools can be intimidating.

"We want to have the experience for when we play in state. When we play in state the environment is different, we want to be prepared," Carter said."Those arentour favorite matches to play, because theyre normally very hard matches but they prepare us for all those tiebreakers we have to play when we have those very hard matches."

Christ Church hosted St. Joseph's in a girls tennis round 2 playoff match Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020.(Photo: RICHARD SHIRO/Contributor)

Although some of the players are bigger and stronger, especially when Christ Church players come in as middle schoolers, eventually the task of beating them in the regular season becomes more regular.

Allen said eventually the matches against Class AAAAA teams in the regular season become the same as state championship matches, Region 1-AA matches or preseason scrimmages.

"It helps with our nerves, stamina for those long matches," she said of matches against larger schools. "Theres not much intimidation because for me all the matches matter the same and we want to win them."

For Allen, Nuckolls and Carter, beating Whitmire and advancing to the state championship gives them a chance to do something that would be very special to them: winning a state title in their senior year.

Seeing the joy of the last four senior class winning a title has had them dreaming of what it would be like to complete their careers at Christ Church with one more championship.

"Its emotionally different than the other years," Allen said."Were the leaders, its different because its our last year and this is the last time we get the opportunity to play."

From the time Nuckolls was in elementary school, she had dreamed of being a member of the Christ Church tennis program.

Christ Church hosted St. Joseph's in a girls tennis round 2 playoff match Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020.(Photo: RICHARD SHIRO/Contributor)

Now that she is a senior, she prepares to face Whitmire in the Class AA Upper State championship game.

Like her sister Day, who won three state championships for the Cavaliers, she will graduate this season and move on.

She, along with classmates Allen and Carter, will try to put their stamp on the program for a final time.

And when they graduate, they know the Christ Church is in a strong place as a tennis program.

"Its weird that its our last year, the three seniors have talked about how special it would be to win it in our last year," she said."We want it for us, but we want it for our whole team. Weve talked to them about how special state is for us and how we want them to keep working hard to get to that spot. We have really good players who are younger than us so it can easily be done again once we leave."

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'It's a tennis family': Christ Church looks to advance to another state championship - Greenville News