High School Tennis: Salisbury’s streak ends at 186
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, September 25, 2018
Staff report
WINSTON-SALEM — The longest-running dynasty in the history of Rowan County high school sports has been the Salisbury girls tennis program.
The Hornets’ 6-3 Central Carolina Conference loss at second-year school Oak Grove on Monday ended an astounding string of 186 straight league wins.
The rare loss provides an opportunity to acknowledge what the program has accomplished.
Basically, the Hornets stopped losing conference matches in the 1990s. They had won 126 league matches in a row — a stretch that included victories in the South Piedmont Conference and Yadkin Valley Conference as well as the CCC — when Lexington finally beat the Hornets early in the 2002 season. After a second loss to Lexington in a heated rematch on Sept. 30, 2002, Salisbury embarked on a new conference winning streak on Oct, 2, 2002. That amazing run lasted until Monday.
Salisbury won 6-3 against Oak Grove the first time the teams met this year, on the Salisbury courts, but coach Milton Griffith acknowledged Oak Grove was the toughest CCC team the Hornets had faced. Salisbury breezed with relative ease in its first meetings with North Davidson and Ledford, the other CCC contenders.
This is a very young Salisbury team, the youngest Griffith has ever coached.
Salisbury played four freshmen on Monday and played short-handed. The Hornets didn’t have Emma Nianouris, who has usually played No. 1, or Margaret Thurman, who has normally played No. 3.
Meredith Burton, who has been 11-0 at No. 2 singles, lost at No. 1.
Freshman Abby Campion, who was undefeated at No. 4, lost on a third-set tiebreaker (13-11) at No. 2 singles.
Skye Mowery, who has been undefeated at No. 5, lost at No. 3.
Freshman Sophie Chmiel, who has been undefeated at No. 6, lost at No. 4.
Besides winning 1, 2, 3 and 4 singles, Oak Grove rolled at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles.
Salisbury singles winners were Sutton Webb at No. 5 and Sydney Hlavacek at No. 6. Mowery/Hlavacek won No. 3 doubles.
The Hornets (13-1, 12-1 CCC) are still in first place, although there’s now a race that also involves North Davidson (11-2, 11-1), Ledford (10-2, 9-2) and Oak Grove (9-2, 9-2)
Salisbury has won 15 straight CCC championships in girls tennis — every year since finishing runner-up to Lexington in 2002. Salisbury also won CCC championships in 1997-2001, so that’s 20 out of 21.
Salisbury has had the last 12 CCC players of the year and won seven 2A dual team championships during the course of its long streak in 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013.
