RONDA -- East Wilkes tennis coach Aaron Simmons had his players look at a crumpled piece of paper before taking the courts for Tuesday's 1A West Region dual-team championship match.

On that sheet were team goals established during a team meeting in August, before the season started.

"I passed it around and had everyone look at it," Simmons said. "The last bullet item was Nov. 1 -- that being our goal to play on that day."

Mission accomplished.

The Cardinals earned the right to play a match in November -- for the 1A state championship -- by beating North Stokes 5-1 on a cold, blustery day that felt more like the dead of winter than late fall.

Like last week against Mount Airy, East Wilkes avoided having to play doubles by winning all five of their points in singles.

When Amber Jennings polished off her opponent at No. 6 singles for the fifth and final tally, a wild celebration ensued among players and Simmons, who did post-match interviews with dabs of cake icing on his face.

"This is absolutely unbelievable," Simmons said. "This has been the goal from the outset. It's all a complete testament to their hard work.

"They need to celebrate like this. We may have acted like fools and probably will continue to for a little while. Hopefuly we'll have another celebration to go."

East Wilkes (20-0) will play Raleigh Charter (18-3) for the 1A state dual-team title on Saturday at the Burlington Recreation and Tennis Center. State title matches in all four classifications will be played there. The 1A match will start at 9 a.m.

North Stokes has been the standard bearer in 1A girls tennis since the N.C. High School Athletic Association began offering a dual-team tournament in 1997, winning six state championships. Until this season, East Wilkes had never been beyond the second round, often losing to North Stokes in the opening round.

The Cardinals had beaten North Stokes twice during the regular season, but both matches proved close. Simmons' team won 5-4 in Danbury on Aug. 28 and then earned a 6-3 decision on Sept. 23 in Ronda. Neither scores were convincing enough to feel overconfident heading into Tuesday.

East Wilkes senior Jessie Elmore -- fresh off a 1A doubles state championship with Brianna Fulp over the weekend -- was the first off the court Tuesday. She dispatched of Amber Nelson in the top-flight singles match 6-1, 6-0.

Fulp followed shortly thereafter, rallying from an early deficit for a 7-5, 6-1 triumph at No. 2 singles over Jordan Wilkins. Fulp said she battled a headache early on and said the decision to shed a jacket during the first set helped her to play better.

"It was really bothering me," she said. "I just tried to battle."

Lauren Stutts put the Cardinals up 3-0 when she beat Holly Whitener at No. 3 singles by a 6-4, 6-3 score. Amy Hill then put the Cards one win away by taking the No. 4 singles match 6-2, 6-4 over Hayley Pack.

By this point, most of the idle players and fans from both schools had drifted over to the fence behind courts five and six. The No. 5 singles match between East's Jessica Taylor and North's Taylor York had reached a third-set tiebreaker.

While the players switched sides tied 6-6, York surged and won the tiebreaker 10-7.

This result prompted Simmons to get Elmore, Fulp, Stutts and Hill up and moving, just in case.

"Not that we don't believe in Amber (Jennings)," Simmons said. "But it's a fact that you've got to be mentally ready. The worst thing that could happen is to lose two singles matches with everyone thinking that fifth point is going to happen there, and then nobody is ready to play doubles."

When Taylor and York walked off the court, the No. 6 duel between Jennings and Alysha Hutchens was deep into the second set.

Jennings won the first set 6-1 but was tied 4-4 in the second.

The pace on both sides of the court slowed down as each player sought not to make mistakes. Jennings tried to keep Hutchens on the move with lobs and shot placement to the corners, trying to keep Hutchens from taking over the middle of the court.

But Hutchens excelled at getting most shots back, often taking up residence at the "T" and successfully volleying several returns back to her East Wilkes counterpart.

Jennings eventually wore down her foe and took the next two games to seal the match -- and yet another historical achievement for the program as a whole.

"I knew we could close it out in doubles but I wanted to win it," Jennings said. "This is my last game here. I just kept at it and kept it in play."

That proved East Wilkes strategy overall for the day, Simmons said.

"We talked yesterday about being the more consistent team," the coach said. "We didn't have to be super-aggressive to win. We just needed to keep the ball in play.

"With different teams we do have to be more aggressive. With North Stokes they step up and drive the ball so well, that you've got to be a good counter-punching team. That was the strategy today."

North Stokes' season ends at 16-3 -- all three losses came to East Wilkes.

"I'm real proud of them," Vikings coach Julian McKenzie said. "We don't have a powerhouse here like we have in the past. We have a bunch of depth, with good kids that will work and have a good time and enjoy each other.

"I'll be honest, I've worked as hard as I've ever worked. I've pushed, pulled, coached, nagged, everything I can think of. They've done a really good job."

Simmons got a chance to scout some of Raleigh Charter's players during this past weekend's state individual tournament. He was impressed by what he saw, especially from Charter's top three.

Raleigh Charter's top doubles team of Lori Wang and Margaret Gaines was nearly the opponent that Fulp and Elmore faced in their championship match. But Gray Stone's Caitlen Corbett and Molly Peele knocked them off in the semifinals, rallying from a one-set deficit.

Simmons said Wang could be one of the top singles players in 1A for the next few years. She'll match up with Elmore on Saturday.

Raleigh Charter beat Topsail 5-1 in the 1A East final on Tuesday afternoon.

East Wilkes is ranked No. 1 and Raleigh Charter is ranked No. 2 in the latest Class 1A statewide coaches poll, as posted by www.nchighschooltennis.com.

Raleigh Charter had been unranked much of the season, eventually moving to No. 7 by early October. N.C. School of Science & Math was No. 1 for most of the fall, but Raleigh Charter knocked them off -- and knocked them out of the playoff field altogether -- late in the season.

Since that time, East Wilkes has been on top -- right where the team wanted to be when putting their preseason goals on paper back in August.

"I am blessed to have the dedication and the players here this year," Simmons said. "It's very, very special."

-- Jeremy Moorhouse of The Stokes News contributed to this story.

East Wilkes 5, North Stokes 1

NCHSAA 1A West Tennis Dual-Team Regional Final

Tuesday * at Ronda

SINGLES: #1 Jessie Elmore (EW) d. Amber Nelson (NS) 6-1, 6-0; #2 Brianna Fulp (EW) d. Jordan Wilkins (NS) 7-5, 6-1; #3 Lauren Stutts (EW) d. Holly Whitener (NS) 6-4, 6-3; #4 Amy Hill (EW) d. Hayley Pack (NS) 6-2, 6-4; #5 Taylor York (NS) d. Jessica Taylor (EW) 2-6, 6-3, (10-7); #6 Amber Jennings (EW) d. Alysha Hutchens 6-1, 6-4

DOUBLES: Not played, match already decided

NOTES: East Wilkes advances to its first team state championship match in school history and claims its first team regional championship. East Wilkes improved to 20-0 with the win. The Cardinals will play Raleigh Charter (18-3) on Saturday in Burlington.