March 16, 2022
Mount Airy tennis won its third consecutive match after starting the season 0-3.
The Bears opened the season with four matches in the span of seven days. Not only were all four matches away, but they were also against teams in higher divisions: two in the 2A division and two in the 4A division.
The Granite Bears lost 6-3 to 4A Reynolds, 2A West Stokes and 4A Davie. Davie (3-0) and West Stokes (5-0) are still undefeated on the season.
Mount Airy broke into the win column on March 8 with a 9-0 victory over East Surry, which also served as East’s first loss. The Bears followed that match up with a 9-0 home victory over North Surry.
Mount Airy began conference play on March 15 in a home match against East Wilkes. The N.C. High School Tennis Coaches Association ranked East Wilkes No. 2 and Mount Airy No. 8 in the 1A preseason poll, while fellow Northwest 1A Conference team Elkin was the preseason No. 1.
The Bears’ took a 3-0 lead with victories in the No. 1, No. 4 and No. 5 singles match.
Top-seeded Georgie Kriek was the first player to finish with back-to-back 6-1 set victories over Cole Macemore. Mount Airy’s Connor Sechrist wasn’t far behind with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Luke Macemore in No. 4 singles, then Granite Bear Kieran Slate defeated James Cook 6-0, 6-3 in No. 5 singles. No. 3 John Juno brought Mount Airy within one win of clinching the overall match by defeating Nathaniel Burchette.
Mount Airy’s Martin Cooke and East Wilkes’ Owen Combs traded powerful serves down the stretch of the No. 6 singles match. Cooke eventually pulled away from Combs, winning 6-4, 6-4 in straight sets to secure the team victory.
Granite Bear junior Carson Hill battled Cardinal junior Braxton Long in the No. 2 singles match. The duo has a number of long rallies: so much so that the No. 1 singles match was completed by the time the No. 2 singles match was starting its second set.
Long picked up East Wilkes’ only singles win by a score of 6-4, 6-4.
Long was also part of the Cardinals’ only doubles win. He teamed with Burchette to defeat Mount Airy’s Juno and Slate 8-6 in No. 2 doubles.
The No. 1 and No. 3 doubles matches went the way of the Bears. Kriek and Hill defeated the Macemore duo 8-2 in No. 1 doubles, and Cooke and Jared Pinto defeated East Wilkes’ Cook and Combs 8-1.