By Eric Lusk
Sports Editor
elusk@elkintribune.com

Elkin’s girls tennis team hadn’t planned on playing a dual-team state playoff match Tuesday afternoon.

The Lady Elks looked at the 1A brackets released by the state last week and saw that as Mountain Valley 1A/2A Conference champions they had been granted a bye from first-round action and an automatic pass into next Tuesday’s district round.

Coach Shannon Norris planned to spend a bulk of this week getting her girls ready for this weekend’s regional tournament.

But Elkin’s bye went bye-bye with a phone call from the N.C. High School Athletic Association on Monday afternoon. A late schedule update put Lake Norman Charter School as the Lady Elks’ opening round opponent.

“We didn’t know anything about them,” Norris said.

Despite scrambling to get ready for an unexpected dual-team match on short notice, Elkin took care of business and advanced to the district round with a 9-0 triumph. The Elks sealed the team triumph in singles and captured all three doubles duels for good measure.

Elkin improved its record to 13-0. Lake Norman ended its season 5-5.

Norris’ team will host North Stokes, a 6-0 winner over Hendersonville, on Tuesday. North Stokes (16-2) played in the Buckin’ Elks conference the past four years before being realigned into the Northwest 1A/2A beginning this season.

“It was good for us to play today,” assistant coach Pam Fencl said while players were completing the doubles rounds. “We didn’t play much last week because of all the rain.”

Kaylee Brown, Diana McCulloch, Ashlen Reece, Emma White, Sarah Gwyn and Mary Tayloe all won their singles matches in straight sets. Reece and Brown teamed up for a 10-8 doubles triumph in the first flight. McCulloch/Tayloe won 10-3 at No. 2 doubles, while White/Gwyn took charge 10-1 at No. 3.

Elkin lost 9-0 to North Stokes twice last season. But the Buckin’ Elks are much improved over last year’s team that finished 8-8 in the regular season. North Stokes, a perennial power in 1A tennis, lost only to Mount Airy in dual-team play this season. Mount Airy’s only loss this season came to Reynolds High from Winston-Salem.

MOUNT AIRY 9, EAST WILKES 0: Before the season, Cardinals coach Aaron Simmons pegged the Granite Bears as one of the favorites to win the 1A title. He saw Mount Airy’s powerhouse lineup first hand in Tuesday’s 1A playoff opener.

East Wilkes put Mount Airy out of last year state’s playoffs in the second round (5-1) on the way to a 21-0 season and state championship. But this time the Granite Bears prevailed.

East’s only losses this season came to Elkin, East Surry and Mount Airy — all ranked in the state’s top 10 for 1A schools.


Elkin 9, Lake Norman 0 1A dual-team state playoffs

Tuesday • at Elkin

SINGLES: 1. Kaylee Brown (E) def. Allie Schutrum 6-2, 6-3; 2. Diana McCulloch (E) def. Ollie Smithers 6-2, 6-1; 3. Ashlen Reece (E) def. Katherine Napier 6-3, 6-2; Emma White (E) def. Catherine Onia 6-2, 6-1; 5. Sarah Gwyn (E) def. Chloe Watson 6-1, 6-2; Mary Tayloe (E) def. Carly Clark 6-1, 6-1.

DOUBLES: Reece/Brown (E) def. Leanne Smithers/Mallory Warren 10-8; 2. McCulloch/Tayloe (E) def. Brittany Buckstad/Sarah McIntosh 10-3; White/Gwyn (E) def. Jillian Lee/Clark 10-1.