BURLINGTON – The 25th annual North Carolina High School Athletic Association state championships in women’s dual team tennis will be held Saturday, but not at the originally scheduled location.
All four finals were to be contested at the Burlington Tennis Center, but the forecasts for inclement weather have caused the finals to be moved indoors. The 1-A and 2-A championships will now be held at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center at North Carolina State University, with the 3-A and 4-A at Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center in Greensboro.
The 1-A state championship will start at 9:30 Saturday morning, with the 2-A to follow, while the 3-A and 4-A matches begin at noon.
The 9:30 am opener is for the 1-A crown, with Durham Voyager Academy (10-6) facing Bishop McGuinness (13-1). Voyager beat Franklin Academy on Thursday while Bishop McGuinness ousted three-time defending champion Mount Airy.
Bishop McGuinness is in the championship for the second time, with a runner-up finish in 2007. Voyager makes its initial trip to the finals.
Morgan Auger, who won the NCHSAA state 1-A singles title last week, leads Bishop McGuinness, while Kinsey Blount of Voyager lost in the state singles semifinals.
In the other match in Raleigh, Lake Norman Charter (16-0) is in the NCHSAA finals for the first time and will take on Durham North Carolina School of Science and Math, which beat Carrboro in a Thursday regional final, in the 2-A championship.
Lake Norman Charter, in its first trip to the championship, knocked off perennial power Salisbury in the regional round. Hannah Archer and Olivia Archer of Lake Norman Charter teamed to win the state 2-A doubles championship in last weekend’s individual tournament.
NCSSM makes its seventh trip to the finals— including five in a row at one stretch in two different classifications– and has three previous state championships. The Unicorns qualified two doubles teams to the state tournament, with Lydia Yuan and Sara Yuan finishing as runners-up while Anna Xu and Rachel Xu lost in the quarterfinals.
The 4-A final at noon sends Cary Panther Creek (20-0) against Charlotte Myers Park (16-0) in a battle of unbeatens. Panther Creek, the defending state 4-A champ, eliminated Cary Green Hope on Thursday.
Myers Park makes its eighth trip to the finals, but is 1-6 in the championship with a title in 2008.
Sammi Smith and Jordan Strickland of Panther Creek have teamed to win the last three 4-A doubles championships, while Katie Soden and Gaby Soden of Myers Park got the state semifinals in doubles last weekend.
The other noon match will be for the 3-A title, as Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons (27-1) takes on Asheville (17-1). Gibbons defeated Fayetteville Terry Sanford in the regionals on Wednesday while Asheville defeated a strong Weddington team.
Gibbons is in the women’s dual team finals for the sixth time, with state titles in 2011 and last year. Asheville’s only other dual team appearance was a runner-up finish in 2000.
Devin Knors and Jenna Knors of Gibbons teamed to win the 3-A doubles championship last weekend while the team of Natalie Freeman and Summer Jacobs got to the semifinals. Adrienne Hayes of Asheville captured the singles title in that same tournament,
NORTH CAROLINA HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
25th Annual Women’s Dual Team Tennis Championships
Saturday’s Schedule
J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center, N.C. State University, Raleigh
1-A championship: Durham Voyager Academy (10-6) vs. Kernersville Bishop McGuinness (13-1), 9:30 am
2-A championship: Durham North Carolina School of Science and Math (12-0) vs. Lake Norman Charter (16-0), following 1-A final
Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center, Greensboro
3-A championship: Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons (27-0) vs. Asheville (17-1), noon
4-A championship: Cary Panther Creek (20-0) vs. Charlotte Myers Park (16-0), noon