But East Wilkes coach Aaron Simmons hopes to find a way to put some type of hardware into the hands of his top doubles duo. Or at least get their names on a banner in the school's gym.
Brianna Fulp and Jessie Elmore battled to a Northwest 1A doubles championship on Monday and Tuesday at the Elkin Municipal Courts, winning four matches, including a 6-1, 6-4 decision over Anna Vargas and Ellie Merrill of Bishop McGuinness in the title bout.
It's the first conference championship for East Wilkes in girls tennis in the 2000's, possibly a lot longer.
"It's been well over a decade," Simmons said. "I'll have to do some research but it could be well over two decades."
Fulp and Elmore played doubles together last season and ascended to the No. 1 flight this fall. The two possess any uncanny consistency and frustrate opponents with a combination of defensive lobs, hard-hit winners and savvy net play.
The duo's Mount Airy opponents in the semifinals, Ellie Case and Jordan Gwyn, were visibly flustered at trying to play the lob game with the Cardinal duo. Fulp and Elmore won that match 6-1, 6-3, content to keep sending rainbows back and forth until one of the Bears' players made a mistake.
"It's very frustrating because lobs change the pace of the match," Simmons said. "They are really good lobbers and like to slow down the pace of the game, but then speed it up when necessary. They volleyed really well today also.
"Some kids don't like doubles, but my kids eat it up. They love it."
The East Wilkes tandem came out red hot in the championship match, blitzing to a 5-0 lead on the same Bishop team they beat during a regular season match last week. Both players were loose and having fun, sensing a championship.
But Vargas and Merrill came to life in the second set and led early, 2-1 and 3-2.
"Bishop's intensity stepped up in the second set and I told them, 'Your strokes have to be more aggressive now because of their play,'" Simmons said. "They did that."
The East duo broke the Villains serve, then won two more games to take a 5-3 lead. It was at this point weather started to become a factor. A storm rolled in, cooling off temperatures but also kicking up wind and bringing some light rain.
With Fulp serving, the Cardinals earned one match point, but Bishop fought it off, eventually winning the game to pull within 5-4.
There was talk of delaying the match during the ninth game because of the incoming showers, but play resumed after a few minutes of discussion. It was a good thing for the Cardinals because they were able to finish out the match before the heavier downpours arrived (which postponed the end of the singles championship until today).
Bishop won the first two points of the final game, but Elmore and Fulp each hit winners to tie it up. Elmore then had a putaway at the net to reach match point and put a resounding exclamation point on the victory with a smash at the net for the final winner.
"Jessie is really, really good at the net," Fulp said. "She can put balls away and has a beautiful serve. We're friends and we work really well together."
Elmore said Fulp has good decision-making ability when she plays the net. "Any time I put it down the line, she is there to put it away," Elmore said. "She's especially good at hitting it down the line and driving it right at them -- really hard drives."
Fulp and Elmore won their opening round match against Ashley Nelson and Jessica Medlin of South Stokes 6-1, 6-1 on Monday. The two then beat Taylor York and Hayley Pack of North Stokes 6-1, 6-4 in Monday evening's quarterfinals.
The duo will now advance to the 1A West Regional, which will be played at East Montgomery on Oct. 19-20.
East Wilkes teammate Lauren Stutts nearly earned the chance to join Fulp and Elmore at the region tournament. She lost to Bishop's Molly Riazzi 6-1, 6-0 in a qualifying match.
Stutts won her opener against North Stokes' Alysha Hutchins 6-2, 4-6 and 6-1 on Monday. But that match in 90-degree temperatures took a lot out of her. She fell to Taylor Gwynn of Mount Airy in the quarterfinals later in the evening, 6-3, 6-2.
"Lauren deserves to go," Simmons said. "This year the singles draw was ridiculously tough. Last year, everybody decided to do doubles."
The Cardinals' second doubles team of Erica Wood and Jackie Pardue won their first match 8-1 against a team from West Wilkes on Monday. Wood and Pardue fell in round two 6-1, 6-1 to the Bishop duo that Fulp and Elmore beat.
Samantha Johnson played singles for the Cardinals, losing her opening round match 6-0, 6-0 to East Surry's Marcie Matthews, the No. 2 player for the Cardinals of Pilot Mountain.
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