Tori Helpingstine and Hannah Kimbrough of Chapel Hill High School won the NCHSAA tennis doubles championship last weekend, helping one cap her high school career and the other to take something special with her when she leaves later this year.

The pair swept through the individual tournament without giving up a set. The closest they came was at 6-4 in a straight-set victory to win the NCHSAA East Region championship the previous weekend.

"They pretty much dominated the tournament," CHHS coach Nick Walker said. "High school tennis is a lot about being consistent. They're consistently good at every part of their game.

"They would have a made a serious run at the 4-A championship with the way they played."

The CHHS pair reached last year's state 4-A semifinals before losing to a team from Wilmington Hoggard. Helpingstine, the senior partner in the firm, and the sophomore Kimbrough, who plans to move soon to Nashville with her family, vowed to win the state title after they learned Chapel Hill was reassigned to the state's 3-A classification, Walker said.

Friday at the Burlington Tennis Center, Helpingstine and Kimbrough defeated Chelsea Martin and Kelli Straka of Hickory St. Stephens, 6-0, 6-1, in the round of 16 and then Mary Kathryn Ferebee and Kelly Tomlin of Charlotte Catholic, 6-1, 6-1, to reach the championship rounds.

Play moved Saturday into the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center in Greensboro because of rain. That made little difference to Helpingstine and Kimbrough, who swept Alix Thodossiou and Taylor Thodossiou of Asheville High School, 6-2, 6-0, and then won the championship with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Lindsay Thomas and Kate Gray of Rocky Mount.

The Chapel Hill pair had more tennis yet to play this week. CHHS (14-5) met Cardinal Gibbons (22-4) on Tuesday in the state dual-team tournament's third round. The two teams split their meetings during the regular-season and finished second and first, respectively, in the Carolina-Six Conference. The match was played too late for today's Chapel Hill News. See today's News & Observer or go to www.newsobserver.com for results and coverage.)

Field hockey this weekend

East Chapel Hill shut out Pfafftown Reagan High School 3-0 and Chapel Hill downed R.J. Reynolds 3-1 to advance to this weekend's N.C. Field Hockey Association championships in Cary.

Sophie Lass-Nesbitt scored twice and Julie Cannon once, off an assist from Helen Newton in the win over Reagan. East Chapel Hill didn't let the Raiders get off a shot or take a penalty corner.

The state semifinals and championship will be played at Cary Academy. Friday, the Tigers (16-1) will play West Forsyth High School at 1 p.m. East Chapel Hill (17-2) will play Asheville High School at 3 p.m.

The championship game is set for 3 p.m. Saturday.

CHHS and East Chapel Hill met in last year's final, with the Wildcats winning the state championship.

Cross Country runs toward state meet

Carrboro and Chapel Hill swept the boys and girls Mideast Region meets for the 2-A and 3-A, respectively, while the East Chapel Hill girls also qualified for this weekend's 4-A state championships in cross country running.

East Chapel Hill senior Carolyn Baskir defended her individual 4-A regional championship in the meets run last Saturday afternoon at WakeMed Park in Cary. Second in the state meet last year, Baskir led at Chapel Hill to the 2008 state title.

In the 3-A meet, Asher Colburn-Hertzberg (16:32) was the first Tiger across as CHHS repeated as regional champions. Runner-up Cardinal Gibbons, Eastern Alamance and Orange also qualified as a team for the state meets. On the girls side, Tristin Van Ord (19:23) led CHHS to the Mideast title with a second-place finish seven seconds behind the Crusaders' Sarah Rapp. Gibbons, Orange and Northern Guilford finished 2-3-4 in the team standings to qualify.

In the 2-A, Carrboro's Grave Morken won with a time of 20:12.53 and led the Jaguars to an impressive finish with 19 points, 41 in front of runner-up Northwood. Cedar Ridge and Roanoke Rapids also qualified. Regional champion Elliot Pahel-Short (17:44) led Carrboro to the boys' title. Cedar Ridge, Northwood and Bunn will join Carrboro at the state meets.

The NCHSAA State Championships, held Saturday at Tanglewood Park in Clemmons, will feature the Boys 2-A at 10:30 a.m., followed by the Girls 2-A at 11:30 a.m. After a lunch break, the Boys 3-A will be at 2 p.m. and the Boys 4-A at 2:30 p.m. The Girls 3-A is at 3 p.m., and the Girls 4-A at 3:30, with awards to follow. Admission is $6 for adults and $3 for children.

Parking fees of $5 are separate.

Tigers can't solve Crusaders

Cardinal Gibbons proved it has the best prep volleyball team in the Triangle with a straight-set win (25-9, 25-13, 25-6) over Chapel Hill for the fourth time this year. Last weekend, it was in the NCHSAA 3-A quarterfinals. CHHS, which fell to the Crusaders twice in the regular season and then in the finals of the Carolina-Six tournament, finished its year at 24-6.

Meanhile, in the 2-A, Cedar Ridge beat Providence Grove in straight sets (25-17, 25-17, 25-18) last weekend to advance to the East Region finals this week. Chelsea Howlett paced the CRHS scoring with 30 assists and a kill. Emily Holmes and Taylor Thompson helped out with nine kills and two blocks apiece. Leanne Maultsby had eight kills.

The Red Wolves (24-4) had to travel to Beulaville to play East Duplin (22-2) Tuesday night, with the winner advancing to the state championships.

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