By DAN BISER

Twelve high-school girl tennis players from Columbus County are certain to go up against some of the stiffest competition they have seen this fall when they step into East Regional play on Friday.

Six players from Waccamaw Conference champion South Columbus and three from Whiteville will compete in the East 2A Regional, which will be held at the Riverbirch Tennis Center at Greenville while three East Columbus players will compete in the East 1A regional at Herman Park in Goldsboro.

Whiteville’s Michele Turner is the top-seeded singles player from the Waccamaw Conference while South Columbus’ Dori Faulk and Ashley Smith are the conference’s top-seeded doubles team.

South Columbus’ Danielle McLaurin and Emily Gore will also compete in regional singles play. Also competing in regional doubles will be South Columbus’ Susan Prince and Hannah Prince, and Whiteville’s Katie Bastug and Sarah Stanaland.

Edenton Holmes High School is host school for the event.

The first two rounds will be played Friday afternoon and evening with the semi-finals and finals set for Saturday. The top four finishers will advance to state tournament play on Oct. 27-28 at Cary.

East Columbus’ Stephanie Laney will compete in the 1A singles at Goldsboro and teammates Valerie Edwards and Sierra Edwards will compete in 1A doubles. The first two rounds will be played on Friday with finals and semi-finals set for Saturday. Spring Creek High School is the tournament host. The top four finishers will advance to state tournament play on Oct. 27-28 at Cary.

NOTE: After being rained out Tuesday, 2A dual team tennis matches of Croatan at South Columbus and Whiteville at Fairmont, and a 1A match between West Columbus and East Columbus, were rescheduled for Wednesday.

Results of those matches will be published in the Monday, Oct. 23 issue of The News Reporter.