By Bret Strelow
bstrelow@salisburypost.com
A satisfying score flip capped a season-opening win streak for West Rowan’s boys tennis team, which has continued to make a significant turnaround under second-year coach John Brown.
Singles wins from Jesse Myers, Joel Brittain, Sam Daniel, Ricky Meek and Chris Holmes helped West earn a 6-3 victory against county rival East Rowan in an NPC match Monday.
The Falcons (8-2, 3-1) won a combined three times in 2006 and 2007 but finished fifth in the 10-team NPC last year with a 5-4 league mark.
They started this season with seven consecutive victories, including a 7-2 decision at Northwest Cabarrus. The Trojans beat West by the same score a year ago.
“The guys, I told them they’ve improved a lot, but I don’t think a lot of them realized it,” Brown said. “We went to Northwest Cabarrus, and I told them they’re a lot better than they think they are. I don’t think they thought they could do it until we had that talk. Once we won, they knew they had gotten a lot better.”
The reward for winning against Northwest was a team dinner at Golden Corral, and West’s other conference victory came against North Iredell. Losses to Davie County and NPC powerhouse Lake Norman followed the 7-0 start.
The five players who won singles matches against East Rowan were all regular members of the Falcons’ top six last season, and Myers has moved from No. 4 to No. 1 in the lineup.
“We’ve got a good group of boys, and I’m pleased we’re doing well,” Brown said. “The guys get out and play. We’ve scheduled a lot more matches this year to help them come along.”