A resounding 5-2 win over Mount Airy, the three-time defending Class 1-A State champions, on Wednesday put the Bishop McGuinness girls tennis team in the Class 1-A state championship match on Saturday.
The Lady Villains came into the Class 1-A West Regional final with confidence as they had already defeated Mount Airy 5-4 in September, Head Coach Larry Ingram said.
“I knew it would be a tough match. Their goal was to finish it in singles competition, and they truly felt like they could do it, but we didn’t. I felt like we had to be 4-2 going into doubles, and we did, and that gave us an edge going into doubles. The two players (Kendall Herr and Lily Winters) that lost to them before won, and one that won before lost. So that gave us the edge going into doubles,” Ingram said. “I realigned our doubles team (Adelaide Jernigan and Anna Overman) to counter what I thought they were going to do, and it worked.”
Bishop McGuinness (19-1) avenged its only loss of the season earlier in the playoffs with a 5-2 win over East Wilkes. In that loss, Jernigan (the No. 3 seed) was absent on a college visit and another player was injured.
The Lady Villains will now face Roxboro Community School (13-0), the No. 1 seed from the East Regionals for the Class 1-A State title at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at the Burlington Tennis Center.
Particularly with the way they have played lately, the Lady Villains are confident, Ingram said.
“The girls have worked extremely hard for it, and they are going in with the right attitude. It is one of those things where in the last three years the East Region was not strong in tennis. They lost some really good teams like Raleigh Charter and Research Triangle. Mount Airy won it last year 5-0. I don’t think they have a great No. 1 seed. We played their doubles team when we went to the singles and doubles state championships. It was their No. 2 and No. 3 seeds and they were the No. 1 doubles team in the East. Our doubles team was the No. 4 seed in the West, and we beat them pretty easy in straight sets in the semifinals,” Ingram said.
Match results from Wednesday’s win over Mount Airy are listed below:
Singles
Lucia Neves (B) d. Carrie Marion (MA) 6-1, 6-0; Kendall Herr (B) d. Lynn Meadows (MA) 6-4, 7-5; Adelaide Jernigan (B) d. Audrey Brown (MA) 7-6 (8-6), 7-5; Greer Tidd (MA) d. Sarah Pulliam (B) 6-4, 6-4; Lily Winters (B) d. Emmie Brant (MA) 7-6 (7-3), 6-4; Bella Brown (MA) d. Anne Overman (B) 7-5, 6-2
Doubles
Adelaide Jernigan (B) and Anne Overman (B) d. Greer Tidd and Bella Brown (M) 8-4.
