Clayton — Throughout the season, Clayton’s tennis team blew by its Greater Neuse River 4-A Conference competition en route to the league duals title, its second in three years.

Saturday afternoon, the Comets added the conference’s doubles championship to their resume.

That championship came from Eric Franson and Marshall Hobbs, as the Comet tandem overcame blustery winds in breezing to the title in the GNRC tournament/ Eastern Regional Qualifier on the Clayton High courts.

While almost everyone fought the swirling winds as well as their opponents, Franson and Hobbs had very little trouble in posting a pair of convincing wins to take the title. After dropping a combined total of three games in a pair of Friday victories, Franson and Hobbs continued their mastery Saturday with a 6-1, 6-1 pasting of Holly Springs’ third-seeded combination of Neal and Fambrough.

They followed that with a 6-1, 6-2 pasting of East Wake’s Kalen Bryant and Bob Harris, in a match that took just over an hour.

“His serve, his overhead, his volleys,” said Ranson in crediting Hobbs with the duo’s success. “Both are our strengths, especially Marshall’s heavy ground strokes.” Franson added that the service game was strong for both players during the season, but “today, we didn’t do so hot.”

Still, the service was good enough, particularly in the second set, when Franson-Hobbs rallied from 0-1, love-40 to event the match.

Hobbs double-faulted thrice in the fourth game, allowing Bryant-Harris to even the set at 2-2.

At that point, Franson and Hobbs righted themselves, took control of the match and cruised to four straight wins in closing out the match.

“It feels good to be able to say we’re the conference champs,” Hobbs said.

Saturday marked the first time in the three-year history of the GNRC tournament/regional qualifier that the event was played out to a championship. In previous seasons, the tournament ended after players reached the semifinals.

Bryant and Harris reached the finals when the No. 2 Comets team of Chris Evans and Colton Postelthwait retired leading 1-0 in the third set. The retirement came when Postelthwait had to leave for his brother’s wedding, in which he was best man.

Evans and Postelthwait, seeded fifth, had reached the semifinals with a 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) upset of Garner’s fourth-seeded team of Stephenson and Holmes. Then they won the first set against Bryant-Harris 7-5, only to drop the second set 6-2.

The semifinalists in both singles and doubles, along with the highest seed not to reach the semis qualified for this weekend’s NCHSAA 4-A Eastern Regional Tournament, which will be contested at Fayetteville Terry Sanford.

Stephenson and Holmes earned the fifth doubles slot, while Smithfield-Selma’s Rob Williams, a quarterfinals upset loser to Knightdale’s Gaston Pintos, took the fifth singles berth.

Southeast Raleigh’s Daniel Gonzalez defeated Garner’s Logan Morgan, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) to claim the GNRC singles crown.

Gonzalez defeated Knightdale’s Jordan King, 6-4, 6-3 in the semifinals, while Morgan topped Pintos, 6-0, 6-2.

“Our doubles teams played great tennis today,” said Comet coach Ken Stivason. “Colton and Chris were playing better as each match went on. Eric and Marshall were playing some of the best doubles I’ve ever seen them play together.”

The key to the Comets’ success as a team started at the 3-A level, where they advanced to the NCHSAA 3-A dual team regional championship in 2004 but it has continued at the 4-A level.

Since Stivason’s arrival 11 years ago, the Comets have won seven conference titles.

“When I arrived, the first couple of years, we were real lucky we had three elite players on the team,” Stivason said. “The first year I was here, we had seven players come out.

“Each year after that, we have had more and more players come out — now I have 20 players coming out every year.”

Keeping the program competitive isn’t difficult, according to Stivason.

“The conference itself has improved from last year to this year,” he said. “Last year we really had only three elite teams in the conference — us, Southeast Raleigh and Garner.

“This year, in addition to those three, East Wake has improved dramatically, so did Knightdale. You add Holly Springs, which is much improved because they had everybody back last year and will again next year.”

Stivason says the Comets stay sharp by playing throughout the summer, while others are taking private lessons.

“They really get after each other,” he said. “And during the season, they challenge each other all year. There are a lot of challenges going on.”

Stivason’s hope is to see the Comets included among the 4-A elite teams. Right now, the Comets have not gotten consideration among the state’s top 15 squads.

“We were very competitive at 3-A,” he said. “In 4-A, the problem is, we’re playing one of the top five teams in the state in the first round of the playoffs each year.”

In 2006, the Comets had the distinct pleasure of meeting perennial power Raleigh Broughton, and last year, drew Raleigh Millbrook in opening round matches in the NCSHAA 4A Dual tournament.

“This year, we have Chapel Hill, which is ranked fifth in the state among 4-A teams,” Stivason said. “In order to become one of the elite, we have to prove we can beat one of those teams.”