Vikings sweep county rival Wildcats twice to open tennis season
DANBURY — The North Stokes girls tennis team wasted no time establishing itself as the class of Stokes County, sweeping West Stokes in a pair of non-conference matches to open the season and doing so without dropping a single set across either meeting.
The Vikings opened the season in dominant fashion on Aug. 13, blanking the Wildcats 9-0 at home. North Stokes swept all six singles matches and all three doubles matches, with senior Ara Hassan turning in the most lopsided result of the day, a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 6 singles. Senior Reagan Dixon and senior Riley Flinchum set the tone at the top of the lineup, each dropping just three total games across their two sets at Nos. 1 and 2 singles, respectively. The Vikings carried that momentum into doubles play, where the pairing of Dixon and sophomore Lexi McBride cruised to an 8-1 win at No. 1 doubles.
Sophomore Lexi McBride went 2-0 against West Stokes before falling to Reagan’s No. 3 seed, marking the first loss of her high school career after an 18-0 start.
Charles Leftwich
Four days later, on Aug. 17, North Stokes returned to the court and again handled West Stokes with ease, though the match was cut short by rain before doubles could be completed. With only singles finished, the Vikings closed out a 6-0 win, as Dixon, Flinchum, McBride, junior Amillia Lynch, senior Samantha Hennis and Hassan all won in straight sets for the second time in less than a week. Flinchum and Hassan were especially sharp, each posting 8-0 wins to match their dominant showings from the first meeting.
The Vikings have not been perfect, however. North Stokes (2-1) suffered its first loss of the season on Aug. 18, falling 9-0 to Reagan just one day after closing out its sweep of West Stokes. The loss also marked a milestone of a different kind for McBride, who entered the match against Reagan with an 18-0 record to open her career. Reagan’s Emma Robinette snapped that streak with a win at No. 3 singles, handing McBride the first loss of her high school career. The Vikings will look to bounce back when they play Surry Central on Aug. 24.
Freshman Lillian Smith serves against North Stokes in her first high school match of her career.
Penny Parrish
West Stokes, meanwhile, has yet to find its footing. The Wildcats (0-3) followed their pair of losses to North Stokes with another 9-0 shutout, this time against Atkins on Aug. 18. West Stokes will look for its first win of the season on Aug. 24, when the Wildcats travel to face Atkins.
North Stokes 9, West Stokes 0 (Aug. 13)
SINGLES
No.1: Reagan Dixon (NS) def. Lillian Smith (WS) 6-2, 6-1
No. 2: Riley Flinchum (NS) def. Eden Goforth (WS) 6-1, 6-0
No. 3: Lexi McBride (NS) def. Leila Lim (WS) 6-2, 6-2
No. 4: Amillia Lynch (NS) def. Isabella Carter (WS) 6-1, 6-4
No. 5: Samantha Hennis (NS) def. Addyson Edwards (WS) 6-1, 6-0
No. 6: Ara Hassan (NS) def. Serena Babcock (WS) 6-0, 6-0
DOUBLES
No.1: Dixon/McBride (NS) def. Smith/Goforth (WS) 8-1
No. 2: Flinchum/Lynch (NS) def. Lim/Carter (WS) 8-2
No. 3: Hennis/Hassan (NS) def. Edwards/Babcock (WS) 8-1
West Stokes freshman Leila Lim servers against North Stokes.
Penny Parrish
North Stokes 6, West Stokes 0 (rain shortened; doubles not completed) (Aug. 17)
Singles
No. 1: Reagan Dixon (NS) def. Lillian Smith (WS) 8-2
No. 2: Riley Flinchum (NS) def. Eden Goforth (WS) 8-0
No. 3: Lexi McBride (NS) def. Leila Lim (WS) 8-4
No. 4: Amillia Lynch (NS) def. Isabella Carter (WS) 8-2
No. 5: Samantha Hennis (NS) def. Addyson Edwards (WS) 8-3
No. 6: Ara Hassan (NS) def. Serena Babcock (WS) 8-0
Sauras open season 0-2 after two tight losses to East Surry
PILOT MOUNTAIN — South Stokes has yet to find the win column, but the Sauras have made East Surry work for every point.
The Sauras (0-2) dropped a pair of non-conference matches to East Surry (3-0) to begin the season, falling 4-3 on Aug. 11 and 5-4 on Aug. 18, with both matches decided by a single point.
South Stokes’ Aubri Derrenbacher went 1-1 against East Surry’s No. 1 seed this past week.
Charles Leftwich
In the opener, senior Aubri Derrenbacher and senior Rylie Fagg teamed up to win at No. 1 doubles, 8-4. Freshman Briana Strange and sophomore Khloe Finley added singles wins at No. 4 and No. 5, respectively, but East Surry took the other three singles matches and No. 2 doubles, including a third-set tiebreaker at No. 1 singles where freshman Morgan Dean edged Derrenbacher, to escape with the 4-3 win.
South Stokes pushed East Surry even further a week later, again falling by a single match, 5-4. Derrenbacher rebounded with a hard-fought win over Dean at No. 1 singles, 7-6 (8-6), 7-5, and the doubles tandem of Derrenbacher and Rylie once more delivered at No. 1 doubles, 9-7. Strange won at No. 4 singles for the second straight week, and Aliza Bullins and Strange teamed up for a win at No. 2 doubles, 8-6. But East Surry claimed four of the six singles matches and got a sweep at No. 3 doubles to escape with the point they needed.
South Stokes will look to right the ship on the road, playing at McMichael on Aug. 25 before opening Greater Triad 1A/2A Conference play the following day at Cornerstone Charter Academy on Aug. 26.
East Surry 4, South Stokes 3 (Aug. 11)
SINGLES
No. 1: Morgan Dean (ES) def. Aubri Derrenbacher (SS) 7-6 (7-5), 0-6, 10-8
No. 2: Shaylee Tilley (ES) def. Rylie F (SS) 6-2, 1-6, 10-3
No. 3: Hadley Bingman (ES) def. Aliza Bullins (SS) 5-7, 6-1, 10-7
No. 4: Briana Strange (SS) def. Ava O’Neal (ES) 6-3, 6-1
No. 5: Khloe Finley (SS) def. Olivia Murray (ES) 6-0, 6-2
DOUBLES
No. 1: Aubri Derrenbacher/Rylie Fagg (SS) def. Morgan Dean/Shaylee Tilley (ES) 8-4
No. 2: Hadley Bingman/Ava O’Neal (ES) def. Aliza Bullins/Briana Strange (SS) 8-5
East Surry 5, South Stokes 4 (Aug. 18)
No. 1: Aubri Derrenbacher (SS) def. Morgan Dean (ES) 7-6 (8-6), 7-5
No. 2: Shaylee Tilley (ES) def. Rylie Fagg (SS) 6-2, 6-2
No. 3: Hadley Bingman (ES) def. Aliza Bullins (SS) 6-2, 6-3
No. 4: Briana Strange (SS) def. Ava O’Neal (ES) 6-4, 7-5
No. 5: Lilliana Clodfelter (ES) def. Addilyn Green (SS) 6-1, 6-2
No. 6: Olivia Murray (ES) def. Makenlee King (SS), ret. 7-5, 4-4
DOUBLES
No. 1: Aubri Derrenbacher/Rylie Fagg (SS) def. Morgan Dean/Lilliana Clodfelter (ES) 9-7
No. 2: Aliza Bullins/Briana Strange (SS) def. Ava O’Neal/Hadley Bingman (ES) 8-6
No. 3: Addilyn Green/Makenlee King (ES) def. Olivia Murray/Santana Southern (SS) 8-0