High school girls tennis: Hornets breeze into regional final
Published 9:23 pm Tuesday, November 1, 2022
Salisbury's No. 1 player Millie Wymbs. photo by Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
Salisbury's #2 player. Abbey Lawson., photo by Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
Salisbury's #3 player. Kate Burton., photo by Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
Salisbury's #4 player. Lucy Barr., photo by Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
Salisbury's #5 Cora, Wymbs., photo by Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY — Salisbury’s girls tennis team rolled into another regional final on Tuesday.
The third-round match wasn’t the grinding struggle that was anticipated. East Surry arrived at the Salisbury courts very short-handed.
The top-seeded Hornets (18-0) cruised 6-0. Doubles, obviously, weren’t needed.
The fifth-seeded Cardinals (15-2) didn’t have No. 1 player Tara Martin, were missing No. 3 Sophie Hutchens and didn’t have a No. 6 at all.
“Our girls were fired up for a tough match, but then East Surry gets off the bus without their full team,” Salisbury coach Milton Griffith said. “It was like someone let the helium out of a balloon, like someone let the air fizz out of a football. But we’ve been in that boat ourselves, not having everyone in the lineup for a big match. It’s the luck of the draw, nothing you can do about it. The only thing we could control was going out there and playing the best tennis we could and we did that. (No. 1) Millie Wymbs played great today against a really good player. All our girls played very well.”
Martin is a very strong player. She was undefeated in the regular season in singles and doubles. Martin and Evelyn Ruedisueli teamed to win the 2A Midwest Regional doubles championship that was hosted by Salisbury. Griffith also got to see them play in the individual state championships over the weekend. The Martin/Ruedisueli duo finished second in the state.
“I saw them play Saturday and Martin had a knee brace on, but she was able to continue on and finish, so I was expecting her to be playing today,” Griffith said. “I don’t know what happened to their No. 3 girl, but I do know when everyone has to bump up a seed and some of them are having to bump up two notches it makes a world of difference. The scores won’t show it, but there still were some good matches. Their girls played very hard, but it’s tough if you’re normally a 5 and now you’re playing 3 in the third round of the playoffs.”
Millie Wymbs won 6-2, 6-1 against Ruedisueli, who normally plays No. 2 for East Surry.
Abbey Lawson won 6-1, 6-2 against Chloe Koons, who was asked to jump up from No. 4 to No. 2.
Kate Burton cruised 6-0, 6-0 at No. 3 against Taylor Bullington.
“Kate is playing so well that some people who saw her in the state individual tournament thought she was our No. 1,” Griffith said. “I think she’s the best No. 3 in the state.”
Lucy Barr won 6-1, 6-0 against Mallory Estrada at No. 4. Cora Wymbs won 6-1, 6-0 against Samantha King at No. 5.
Meredith Williams received a forfeit at No. 6.
Salisbury has good players in every class. Burton and Lawson are seniors. Millie Wymbs is a junior. Barr, a sophomore, cracked the starting lineup for the first time this season. Cora Wymbs and Williams are freshmen.
The Hornets are right back at it again Wednesday. They’re hosting sixth-seeded Hendersonville (15-1) in the regional final with a trip to the 2A State Championships on the line.
West Henderson beat West Lincoln 5-1 on Tuesday.
Don’t be fooled by Hendersonville’s seed. The Bearcats did lose a match, but it was to a non-public school in Asheville.
The Bearcats beat Salisbury in regional finals in 2019 and 2021 on their way to 2A state championships.
They also are credited by the NCHSAA with the 2A state championship for 2020. There were no dual team playoffs held in that COVID season, but Hendersonville was crowned by virtue of earning the most points in the individual state tournament.
Hendersonville had two doubles teams competing in last weekend’s individual state championships, including the state champion duo.
Salisbury’s Wymbs sisters play as a doubles team. They beat one of the Hendersonville teams in the quarterfinals but lost to the eventual state champs in the semis.
“Hendersonville has been a wall for us and they’ve got a lot of experience and a lot of good players,” Griffith said. “But there’s always hope when you go out there and give it all you have. I have no doubt that we will.”
