BURLINGTON – The 24th annual North Carolina High School Athletic Association state championships in women’s dual team tennis will be held Saturday with four finals to be contested at the Burlington Tennis Center.
The 2-A and 3-A state championships will start at 9:30 Saturday morning with the 1-A and 4-A matches starting at 12:30 p.m.
In one of the 9:30 am openers, Salisbury (17-3) is seeking its sixth consecutive dual team tennis title and is in the finals for the ninth consecutive year. The Hornets battle unbeaten Durham North Carolina School of Science and Math (17-0).
Salisbury is in the finals for the 13th time, while NCSSM makes its sixth trip— including five in a row in two different classifications– and has three previous state championships. The Salisbury duo of Alexandra Drye and Madeline Hoskins won the state doubles title last weekend, with Kayla Honeycutt and Anna Flynn of Salisbury getting to the semifinals.
The other morning match has Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons (27-1) taking on Weddington (13-4) for the 3-A crown. Gibbons had a tough 5-4 victory in Fayetteville against Terry Sanford in the regionals on Wednesday.
Gibbons is in the women’s dual team finals for the fifth time, with its only state title in 2011, while Weddington’s only other appearance in the championships came in a runner-up finish in ’03. Heidi Swope of Weddington won the state 3-A singles crown last weekend and the Gibbons doubles team of Devin Knors and Lizzie Galush downed teammates Natalie Freeman and Summer Jacobs to capture the doubles title.
The 4-A final at 12:30 features two schools making their first visit to the women’s dual team championships, with Cary Panther Creek (20-1) taking on undefeated Charlotte Ardrey Kell (15-0).
Panther Creek knocked off perennial power and 11-time dual team champion Raleigh Broughton in the third round of the playoffs, and then ousted Cary Green Hope in the regionals. Sammi Smith and Jordan Strickland of Panther Creek are now the reigning 4-A doubles champs after last weekend’s tournament.
Ardrey Kell beat Charlotte Myers Park on Wednesday in the Western Regional final.
The 1-A championship will send two-time defending champion Mount Airy (19-2) against Raleigh Charter (12-2). Raleigh Charter makes its second championship visit with a runner-up finish in 2008.
The Mount Airy doubles team of Davi Barbour and Haley Thomas has finished second in the state doubles competition the last two years.
NORTH CAROLINA HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
24th Annual Women’s Dual Team Tennis Championships
Burlington Tennis Center, Burlington
Saturday’s Schedule
1-A championship: Raleigh Charter (12-2) vs. Mount Airy (19-2), 12:30 pm
2-A championship: Durham North Carolina School of Science and Match (17-0) vs. Salisbury (17-3), 9:30 am
3-A championship: Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons (27-1) vs. Weddington (13-4), 9:30 am
4-A championship: Cary Panther Creek (20-1) vs. Charlotte Ardrey Kell (15-0), 12:30 pm