TRIBUNE/Eric Lusk • Jessica Taylor and Amy Hill of East Wilkes will now turn their attention to the state tournament, being played in Cary this weekend.
Sports Editor
elusk@elkintribune.com
KING — The East Wilkes’ doubles duo of Jessica Taylor and Amy Hill lost a pair of matches Monday as the 1A Western Regional wrapped up at West Stokes High School.
Taylor and Hill dropped a 6-4, 6-3 decision in the semifinals to Emily Ciriano and Elizabeth Davis of Bishop McGuinness. The Cardinal pair then fell 6-3, 6-4 to East Montgomery’s Myranda Blake and Delana Hinson in the third place match.
That means Taylor and Hill will take the No. 4 seed from the West into this weekend’s state tournament in Cary. They’ll play the No. 1 team out of the East for starters Friday.
Mount Airy’s Ellie Case and Jordan Gwyn won the 1A West doubles crown, defeating Ciriano and Davis 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in Monday evening’s title bout.
“We played and proved that we deserved to be there, but we couldn’t close out the big points,” East Wilkes coach Aaron Simmons said of his doubles tandem. “We have a tough task ahead of us in terms of seeding at state, but if we play well, we can compete with anyone.”
Hill and Taylor lost just once during the regular season and captured the 1A doubles championship in the Mountain Valley Conference tournament.
Another doubles duo from East Wilkes is the reigning 1A doubles champions. Brianna Fulp and Jessie Elmore, who graduated in June, took the title last fall after finishing as the runner-up in 2007.
Hill and Taylor earned spots on the 1A All-Region team by virtue of their semifinals appearance.
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Elkin’s second round dual-team state playoff match against North Stokes was rained out Tuesday. The Buckin’ Elks and Vikings will try again today (Wednesday) at 4 p.m.
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Elkin’s top-seeded singles player, Kaylee Brown, won her opening round match at the regional tournament over the weekend.
Brown beat Cherryville’s Kiersten Houser 6-1, 6-0. She then lost to Avery’s Anna Melton 6-1, 6-4 in the quarterfinals — one step shy of qualifying for state.
East Surry’s Megan Shelton went on to win the region, topping Melton 6-0, 6-0 and then Mount Airy’s Jordan Jackson 6-1, 6-0. Alleghany’s Jessica Gentry, the MVAC’s 1A player of the year, finished third, falling to Jackson and then beating Melton in her state seeding match.
In doubles, Elkin’s Diana McCulloch and Mary Tayloe dropped a 6-2, 6-1 decision to Molly Peele and Ashley Honeycutt of Gray Stone Day in their opener.
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In the 2A Midwest Regional, Surry Central’s Tara Dockery locked up a state berth with a trip to the semifinals.
Dockery breezed past Wilkes Central’s Candice Hopkinson 6-1, 6-1 in the opening round, then topped Hanna Moxley of West Stanly 6-1, 6-1 in round two.
Eventual champion Hannah Lebowitz, the No. 1 seed for the tournament from Salisbury, beat Dockery in the semifinals 6-0, 6-1. Salisbury’s Joy Loeblein topped Dockery 6-4, 6-1 in the third place match.
Starmount’s Carla Cave also lost to Lebowitz. Cave dropped a 6-0, 6-0 decision in the quarterfinals after winning her singles opener 6-4, 6-0 over Thomasville’s Natalie Bravi.
Starmount’s Savannah Anthony drew Loeblein as her opening round opening. The third-seeded Salisbury netter topped Anthony 6-0, 6-2.
The Surry Central doubles team of Hunter Marion and Kayla Feeney lost 6-1, 6-1 in the opening round to North Stanly’s Elizabeth Deeck and Kayte Hahn, the tournament’s No. 4 seed.
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East Wilkes’ Hill and Taylor and Surry Central’s Dockery earned spots on the 1A All-Region team by virtue of their semifinals appearance.
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Elkin was listed ninth and East Wilkes 10th in the latest North Carolina High School Tennis Coaches Association 1A state poll.
The N.C. School of Science and Math leads the rankings, followed by Mount Airy, Raleigh Charter, North Stokes, East Montgomery, Bishop McGuinness, East Surry. Gray Stone Day, Elkin and East Wilkes.
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