KANNAPOLIS — West Rowan girls tennis coach Mary Ann Martinelli will never forget her first match with Salisbury.
It took place three years ago when Martinelli was the brand new coach and her players, many of them freshmen, were brand new to big-time tennis.
“That match took all of 30 minutes,” sighs Martinelli. “I mean all nine matches. Six singles, three doubles.
“Thirty minutes.”
Martinelli remembers that the next matchup with the Hornets was a little more competitive. But only a little.
“Next time it took an hour and a half,” she said. “But it was still 9-0. Then the next time it was 8-1, so I knew we were getting better. I really didn’t know how much better.”
Martinelli got an idea just how much progress her girls have made when they stunned Salisbury 5-4 last month at City Park. It was an historic day for the Falcons, who had lost a million or so in a row to the Hornets.
When the teams squared off again two weeks later, the Falcons proved they were no fluke, taking a 4-2 lead after singles matches. That match was suspended and will be completed this Thursday. The Falcons (11-0, 2-0 3A North Piedmont Conference) need to win just one of three doubles duels to make it a season sweep.
If the Falcons do take two it will be stop-the-presses material. The Hornets have one of the state’s top programs. They’ve been a 2A state semifinalist each of the past four seasons and ran off a string of state titles prior to that.
And it’s not like the Hornets (12-1, 9-0 Central Carolina Conference) have collapsed. Heading into today’s match with Statesville, Salisbury feels it’s in the hunt for a state championship, particularly with nemesis Statesville moving up to 3A — ironically, to West’s conference. Coach Chris Myers’ Hornets have maintained the school’s incredible run of consecutive conference wins that dates back to the late 1980s. And they’ve done it without sophomore phenom Lindsay Hampton. Hampton, who would likely be playing No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles, remains out with a bum shoulder.
Hornet fans insist that a healthy Hampton would have altered the outcome of the West battles, but Martinelli says Hampton’s absence doesn’t take anything away from her girls.
“Yes, Salisbury misses Lindsay and, yes, it has to hurt them,” she said. “But, still — they’re still Salisbury. They’re still very good.”
Martinelli says you can tell a Salisbury tennis player from a Falcon from a country mile away.
“Salisbury’s girls have these crisp strokes. It’s like they’ve been groomed for tennis,” said Martinelli. “Our girls don’t have those strokes. Our girls are more backyard players. But we’ve got some good athletes.”
The core of Martinelli’s team is six seniors — Lauren Duffy, Jennifer Kluttz, Julie Ferguson, Anna Brown, Jessica Matthews and Carly Mauldin. They usually make up the Falcons’ doubles units. Duffy, Kluttz, Ferguson and Brown usually play No. 1-4 singles. Most were part of Martinelli’s first squad in 1998. Most carry painful memories of that 30-minute thrashing by the Hornets. But now the tennis shoe is on the other foot.
“We’ve worked four years for this season,” said Brown, who won both her singles matches against Salisbury. “We want it really bad.”
Falcon youngsters Meagan Drake, Ashley Graham and Ellen Crowell normally fill the No. 5-6 spots and have played very well, but it’s still very much a senior team.
“They are all close friends and they work as a team,” said Martinelli. “It helps that they’ve all got the same goal: to make their senior year a great one.”
Veteran A.L. Brown coach Mark Linn, who got a first-hand look at the Falcons yesterday in an 8-1 blowout, agrees West has a chance do wonderful things.
“Definitely they are the best West team we’ve played,” he said. “It seems like some of their girls have been around forever. Probably they’re the No. 2 team in this conference behind Statesville.”
The Falcons, of course, can take nothing for granted. They’ve gotten to this lofty level more through sweat and conditioning than sheer talent. And they’re well aware they’re in a mighty tough conference. Five of the seven teams in the new NPC— Statesville, Mooresville, East Rowan, Northwest Cabarrus and West — made the playoffs last season. Only three get a ticket this October.
But no matter what happens in the conference race, West’s seniors have that win over Salisbury to cherish for a lifetime. Several of the West girls have even created humorous T-shirts to commemorate the momentous event, although they probably won’t wear them in public unless they beat the Hornets a second time.
Duffy, a fine cross country runner who gave up that sport to concentrate on tennis, giggles when asked for her favorite moment of this magical season. It’s obvious from her reaction that it was taking down the Hornets. Especially, it was beating Salisbury star Tonya Fox in singles for the first time in a rivalry that goes back to seventh grade.
“Beating Salisbury was just great,” said Kluttz. “We worked hard for it. Worked all summer for it. We earned it.”
“The team knew that it was a big deal to beat Salisbury,” added Brown. “But I was surprised how people reacted when they announced it at school. It was a big deal to people besides the tennis team.”
Yes, beating Salisbury will always be a big deal. And if West makes it a twin killing on Thursday, the Falcon girls know exactly how they want the school to celebrate.
“First time we beat them, we made the back of the spirit rock,” grinned Kluttz. “If we beat them again, we should be on the front.”
Today's News
