KERNERSVILLE – Bishop McGuinness has been waiting to get another shot at East Wilkes. And it made it count.
The third-seeded Villains won key points in singles to build a lead and finished off the 10th-seeded Cardinals in doubles to win 5-3 on Wednesday at Civitan Park in the third round of the NCHSAA 1A West girls tennis dual-team playoffs.
Bishop (17-1), which suffered its only loss of the season against East Wilkes (17-4) back in early September, will face top-seeded Mount Airy (19-2) in the regional championship Wednesday at Mount Airy.
“It’s good to get to that,” Villains coach Larry Ingram said. “Their goal obviously, especially the seniors, they want that championship ring – and they want it bad. I’m just happy they’re so excited. They’re hungry for it, and they’re such a close-knit team from 1 through 17.”
Bishop, which captured state titles in 2014 and 2015, won four matches in singles and needed just one win in doubles to seal its third regional appearance in four years – all three have been against Mount Airy, which has won the last three state championships.
“This is total redemption for last time we played them,” senior Kendall Herr said with a smile. “I don’t think Adelaide was here last time we played them. And it’s really nice to have her here because she’s a backbone in some ways, especially with the tougher teams. But I also really wanted my revenge too – I was frothing at the mouth for it.”
The Villains quickly led when singles state champion Lucia Neves jumped ahead at No. 1 and won when her opponent, who was playing sick, retired. And Adelaide Jernigan, who was on a basketball recruiting trip when the teams squared off earlier this season, won at No. 3 – dropping only one game.
No. 2 Herr, No. 4 Sarah Pulliam, No. 5 Lily Winters and No. 6 Anne Overman were all locked in tight, hard-fought matches. Herr fought to win her match in straight sets, as did Winters. But Pulliam and Overman – despite both grinding out tough points in stretches – lost in three sets to send the match to doubles.
Neves and Pulliam fell behind early at No. 1 doubles, struggled to recover and ultimately fell. But Herr and Jernigan – doubles state qualifiers – were largely in control in sealing their win at No. 2, as Bishop just needed to win one of the three doubles matches to clinch the victory.
“I’m not a very emotional player, so screaming at the end of the match was such a relief – it felt so good,” Herr said of her singles win. “It was either up to all our singles or our doubles teams had to come in clutch. Thank goodness everybody managed to pull it off.
“Adelaide and I, we had to focus. We got a little impatient at first, but we learned to reel it back in and focus ourselves. I really wanted to give her a big ol’ bear hug. And to be able to do the bear hug with her was just the most amazing feeling ever. It was a really great feeling.”
The Villains will make the familiar trip up US-52 to Mount Airy. Regular foes in both the regular season and in the playoffs in recent years, the teams played in September with Bishop winning 5-4. The Villains, winners of 11 straight, will look to continue their strong play and earn their fourth state finals appearance.
“I think tonight will do us a lot of good,” Ingram said. “I think thinking we were going to win it in singles and we didn’t, that changed our whole focus. And I think it’ll help us going forward. Even though it was a win, I think the losses are going to help us. And the next match they’re going to be a little more confident.”
BISHOP McGUINNESS 5, EAST WILKES 3
Lucia Neves (BM) def. Emerson Simmons 4-1, retired; Kendall Herr (BM) def. Ava Darnell, 6-4, 7-5; Adelaide Jernigan (BM) def. Abbie Kilpatrick 6-1, 6-0; Lily Truitt (EW) def. Sarah Pulliam 6-0, 6-7 (1-7), 10-6; Lily Winters (BM) def. Diella Ward 6-4, 6-3; Sydney Johnson (EW) def. Anne Overman 4-6, 6-2, 10-3
Simmons/Darnell (EW) def. Neves/Pulliam 8-4; Herr/Jernigan (BM) def. Kilpatrick/Truitt 8-4
