When Matthew Burwell got out of bed Wednesday morning he only hoped to contribute to a Kinston boys tennis team win against North Lenoir.
Little did the sophomore know, he was going to be the one to win it for the Vikings.
Burwell’s tie-break forehand in doubles gave Kinston its fifth match win of the day, which propelled it to a 6-3 win and a season sweep of the Hawks at Bill Fay Park.
The Vikings took four of the six singles matches, and needed only one win in doubles to secure the victory.
Brett Shear couldn’t get to Burnwell’s shot in time, and Burwell and his partner, Nicolas Romero, celebrated.
“It feels good,” said Burwell, whose shot gave him and Romero a 9-8 win after the 7-4 tiebreaker. “When I woke up this morning I just hoped to give my team a little lift. I never thought I’d be the one to win it.”
Burwell also handled his singles opponent, Drew Proctor, 6-2 and 6-3. In all it was a good day for the sophomore.
“I played well,” he said. “I kept my composure and played my shots well.
“It’s good to sweep North Lenoir. That’s something we haven’t done in a while.”
Evan Kramer gave North Lenoir the top-seeded set with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Dan Hoang, then Will Hardy followed with a hard-earned 7-6 (8-6), 6-7 (3-7), 10-5 three-set win over Koty Wojeski. But that was it for the Hawks through the Burwell-Romero doubles win.
Julian Quintero defeated Matthew Warren 6-4, 6-0 to give Kinston a win at No. 3 singles, then Belgium foreign exchange student Stan Vanclooster defeated Austin Worley 6-0, 6-0 at No. 4.
Romero rounded out the singles matches with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Josh Varnell — Shear’s doubles partner — in No. 6.
Quintero and Vanclooster teamed up for an 8-3 win over Hardy and Worley. Kramer and Warren ended the day by defeating Hoang and Wojeski, 8-3 also.
Ryan Herman can be reached at 252-559-1073 or Ryan.Herman@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter: @KFPSports.