By Eric Lusk
Sports Editor
elusk@elkintribune.com

During her first couple of seasons as Elkin’s girls tennis coach, Shannon Norris became accustomed to having her players ask for Friday afternoons off.

“They never wanted to practice on Fridays because that’s a football night,” Norris said.

Needless to say, the coach was pleasantly surprised coming into this season when her players basically insisted on Friday workouts.

“They said, coach, if we’re going to win, we think we really need to practice on Fridays,” Norris recalled. “I told them, ‘I’ve never been opposed to that.’”

And no one inside the program has been opposed to the results the team has achieved the past couple of months. The Lady Elks polished off an undefeated regular season Tuesday afternoon, defeating a solid Starmount squad 6-3.

Elkin won four of six singles matches against the Rams, then sealed the team triumph when the group’s only senior starter, Diana McCulloch, partnered with sophomore Mary Tayloe to win at No. 2 doubles. McCulloch’s “Senior Day” was celebrated before the match.

The Buckin’ Elks conclude the regular season portion of their schedule with a 12-0 record and claim the first tennis trophy in the recently realigned Mountain Valley 1A/2A Conference.

As a reward, Elkin is assured a No. 1 seed for the upcoming 1A dual-team state playoffs, with their first match coming at home.

While Elkin’s boys tennis team has won several state championships over the past decade, this is the best season for the girls program since the early 1990s. Elkin teams from that decade won 44 straight conference matches, claimed three outright league titles and tied for another one, according to assistant coach Pam Fencl.

This current group of mostly underclassmen could challenge those numbers before all is said and done. Five of six starters are sophomores, as is the No. 7 player in the rotation.

“It’s been awhile since we had a whole team go to dual-teams,” Norris said.

Norris saw the foundation being laid for a successful season during the winter, spring and summer months. Nearly everyone who is now a starter committed to private lessons with local tennis instructors like Jack Journigan and Chris Coley. Many tuned up by playing tough competition in area USTA tournaments.

Most of all, they agreed to commit to the team, the season ahead and each other.

“They have just wanted it,” Norris said. “They have put in a lot of hard work. We have always had people who will give lessons, but this group of girls, they are competitive, so they put in the extra time and took the lessons.”

Elkin’s road to perfection actually started on a rough note. In the team’s lone preseason scrimmage, the Elks were blanked by powerhouse Mount Airy, a former conference foe, by a 9-0 score.

“That was five of my girls’ first time playing in the top six on a regular basis, so they were really nervous,” Norris said. “Plus it’s a big rivalry.”

But the group was undeterred by the final score. And they haven’t been beaten as a team since.

Sarah Gwyn and Mary Tayloe went 12-0 in singles. Both won in straight sets Tuesday against Starmount opponents.

Ashlen Reece and Emma White each have 11 singles victories. They also won Tuesday afternoon.

Gwyn and White are still perfect in doubles, meaning Gwyn has yet to taste defeat in a regular season match this fall.

Kaylee Brown has played No. 1 all season, a big jump for a sophomore who was at No. 5 last year. Most of her competitors are seasoned seniors, like Starmount’s Carla Cave (last year’s Mountain Valley 2A singles champion) and East Wilkes’ Jessica Taylor (a member of the Cardinals’ state championship team).

Brown’s individual record isn’t as stellar as her teammates, but she has been competitive each time out and is gaining vital experience points for the future.

McCulloch plays No. 2. She has been a true leader for the Elks, Norris said, and her presence was sorely missed when the Elks played Alleghany a few weeks back and McCulloch was not able to play singles.

“We beat them but we struggled without Diana,” Norris said. “We needed everybody in the positions they were in.”

Esther Neumark is Elkin’s pinch-hitter. She has filled in at No. 6 singles and No. 3 doubles a few times, earning wins each time. She’ll challenge for a starting spot next year, Norris said.

But first, there is the matter of finishing the 2009 campaign. The post-season will bring new challenges for the Elks. It starts with the conference tournament next Tuesday and Wednesday at Elkin.

The 1A schools — Elkin, East Wilkes and Alleghany — will play separate from the 2A teams — Starmount, Ashe County, Wilkes Central and Forbush — to determine qualifiers for the upcoming regional tournaments. For the 1A schools, the MVAC will send two singles players and two doubles teams to regionals.

Elkin will have an opening round bye from the dual-team playoffs the following week.

• • •

Although Starmount lost the overall match with the Elks on Tuesday, the Rams were impressive at the top of the singles ladder.

Cave and Savannah Anthony both enjoyed convincing singles triumphs. The duo then teamed up to fell Brown and Reece at No. 1 doubles 8-5. Strong serving from Cave in the doubles match helped the Rams win a couple of pivotal games.

Starmount’s biggest team matches of the year actually came last Thursday. The Rams won both sides of a doubleheader at Ashe County, sealing up the No. 1 seed for the dual-team playoffs among the 2A schools.

Starmount earned a 7-2 victory in one meeting and prevailed 6-3 in the other.

Coach Ryan Norman’s team finished the dual-team season 7-5, losing twice to East Wilkes, twice to Elkin and once to Wilkes Central.

Elkin 6, Starmount 3

Tuesday • at Elkin

SINGLES: 1. Carla Cave (ST) def. Kaylee Brown 6-0, 6-2; 2. Savannah Anthony (ST) def. Diana McCulloch 6-1, 6-2; 3. Ashlen Reece (EL) def. Angela Reavis 6-2, 6-1; 4. Emma White (EL) def. Hanna Brown 6-0, 6-1; 5. Sarah Gwyn (EL) def. Susanne Kelly 6-0, 6-1; 6. Mary Tayloe (EL) def. Ashley Griffin 6-2, 6-3.

DOUBLES: 1. Cave/Anthony (ST) def. Brown/Reece 8-5; 2. McCulloch/Tayloe (EL) def. Reavis/Brown 8-2; 3. White/Gwyn (EL) def. Kelly/Griffin 8-3.