By Eric Lusk
Sports Editor
elusk@elkintribune.com

Elkin’s lone girls tennis senior, Diana McCulloch, was fishing for T-shirt ideas after the Buckin’ Elks season came to an end Wednesday afternoon.

Though Elkin lost to North Stokes 6-0 in the second round of the 1A dual-team playoffs, McCulloch and her teammates should have plenty of positive material to work with following the best girls tennis campaign at the school since the mid-1990s.

Consider the achievements:

• Mountain Valley 1A/2A Conference champs

• Perfect regular season record (12-0)

• 13-1 overall record

• A first-round state playoff victory, 9-0 over Lake Norman Charter last week

• Three 1A West regional qualifiers (Kaylee Brown, McCulloch and Mary Tayloe)

• Six all-conference players (Brown, McCulloch, Tayloe, Ashlen Reece, Emma White and Sarah Gwyn)

• Conference coach of the year (Shannon Norris)

• Regular appearances in the top-10 state rankings all season, as voted on by a select group of coaches from 1A programs.

The team T-shirt may not have enough room for everything that could be said about this upstart team, which included five sophomore starters, McCulloch and another talented sophomore who played No. 7 on the ladder (Esther Neumark).

“I’m not disappointed,” coach Norris said after Wednesday’s match, delayed a day because of heavy rains Tuesday. “We’re excited about next season. I’ve got some who already have their plans for the off-season, to continue to work on their tennis.”

Though the Elks were shutout by North Stokes, the final score is a bit deceptive. Elkin was competitive in every match, having legitimate chances to win several and push the dual into doubles.

Kaylee Brown won her opening game at No. 1 singles against hard-serving and hard-hitting Jordan Wilkins before falling 6-2, 6-3.

Ashlee Reece took the opening set against Taylor York at No. 3 singles by a 7-6 score. York won a hard-fought second set 6-4 and prevailed 10-8 in the third-set tiebreaker.

The only reason Reece and York did not play out a full third set is because they were the last pair on the court, with North Stokes already having earned their decisive fifth team point.

Sarah Gwyn and Mary Tayloe each lost 7-5 in their opening sets at No. 5 and 6 singles, respectively. Emma White fell 7-5 in the second set at No. 4 singles. Diana McCulloch took five games from her foe at No. 2 singles.

The 6-0 singles sweep made doubles unnecessary. North Stokes (17-2) will play Mount Airy (17-1) next Tuesday in the 1A quarterfinals. Mount Airy beat the Vikings twice in the regular season during Northwest 1A/2A Conference play.

East Montgomery and Gray Stone Day are the other 1A West teams still alive. East Wilkes, a team Elkin beat twice in the regular season, is the reigning 1A state champion after posting a 21-0 record a year ago.

“I wish we could have played the doubles out (against North Stokes),” Norris said. “I would have liked to have seen how the girls could do.”

North Stokes has a team this year like what Elkin could be in a few years. The perennial 1A powers boast four seniors in their starting line-up, along with one junior and one sophomore. Most are battle-tested from being in past state dual-team playoff matches.

“We’re young,” Norris said of her lineup. “Only two of them have played in a lot of tournaments and been in those stressful situations. They got out there and could cope with that today.

“We’ve got things we can learn and work on.”

Norris is hoping some of her girls will join her in training for a road race in Winston-Salem this December, to keep up their conditioning. Several tennis players will join Joe McCulloch’s girls soccer team at Elkin in the spring, which should keep them in shape and together.

Local tennis instructors Jack Journigan and Chris Coley, as well as long-time Elkin tennis coaches/assistants Pam and Ray Fencl, continue to make themselves available for lessons and clinics. Their contributions behind the scenes obviously paid big dividends this season and could help the Elks be in the hunt for bigger prizes the next couple of years.

Whatever Diana McCulloch and her teammates decide for a T-shirt theme, the tag line “the best is yet to come” might be appropriate somewhere. This year was great. Next year could be even better if players keep working.

“I think they will be motivated and ready to go,” Norris said. “It’s exciting.”

North Stokes 6, Elkin 0

1A Dual-Team Tennis Playoffs • Second Round

Wednesday • at Elkin

SINGLES: 1. Jordan Wilkins (NS) def. Kaylee Brown 6-2, 6-3; 2. Hayley Pack (NS) def. Diana McCulloch 6-1, 6-2; 3. Taylor York (NS) def. Ashlen Reece 6-7, 6-4, 10-8 (tiebreaker); 4. Alysha Hutchens (NS) def. Emma White 6-2, 7-5; 5. Kendra Hopkins (NS) def. Sarah Gwyn 7-5, 6-2; 6. Millie Norman (NS) def. Mary Tayloe 7-5, 6-2.

DOUBLES: did not play