KNIGHTDALE - It took Panther Creek a little more than an hour to clinch a win over Knightdale on Tuesday in the first round of the boys team tennis playoffs.

The Catamounts (14-4, Tri-Nine No. 2 seed) won all six of the singles matches, eliminating the need to play the doubles round and giving the Knights a quick boot from their first-ever appearance in the team tournament.

Panther Creek coach Nathaniel Blalock said he didn’t know much about the Knightdale team (12-4, Greater Neuse River No. 1) heading into the match.

“We don’t get out here that often,” Blalock said. “We just knew we had to play our best tennis and I think we did.”

Catamount senior Eric Nagy picked up his 14th win of the season, defeating Michael Neely 6-2, 6-2 to clinch the team victory.

“Eric (Nagy) has really been a good leader for us this year,” Blalock said. “But all the way down our guys played well.

Blalock said he was especially proud of No. 4 singles player Carter Bradshw.

Bradshaw earned his 12th win of the season via a 6-1, 6-1 route of Knightdale’s Syler Guthrie.

“He played a good match today,” said Bradshaw. “He struggled a little in the middle of the season but really turned it around.”

Matt Fahys defeated Andrew Dickhoff 6-0, 6-4 at No. 2 while Henrik Lindvall beat Alonso Willis 6-4, 6-3 at No. 3.

Balaji Lenin won the No. 5 match (6-0, 6-1) over Garrett Munn, and Guy Blanc defeated Alec Root (6-1, 6-1) at No. 6.

Panther Creek will travel to Wilmington to face Laney in the next round on May 8.

Apex, Green Hope advance: Apex was a wild-card in the team tennis playoffs, while Green Hope was an undefeated conference champ. But the two teams had the same fate in Tuesday’s first round, as each picked up wins.

Green Hope (18-0) quickly dispacted visiting Richmond County (14-5) 5-0 in singles play. The Falcons will host Garner in the second round this upcoming Tuesday.

Apex (14-5) traveled to Fayetteville Terry Sanford and pulled out a 6-3 victory, handing the Bulldogs (14-1) their first loss of the year. The Cougars wil travel to Raleigh powerhouse Broughton (16-3) this Tuesday in second round play.