By Ronnie Gallagher
rgallagher@salisburypost.com
Some things never seem to change in high school tennis.
Salisbury plays. Salisbury wins.
That was the case Wednesday on the Salisbury courts as the defending 2A dual-team champion rolled past West Stanly 9-0 in the second round of this year’s playoffs.
It was Salisbury’s 20th victory without a defeat.
Hornets coach Chris Myers was asked how the team stays motivated with such easy wins. Salisbury shut out West Lincoln in the first round.
“Really, it’s tradition,” he said. “They see what girls have done before them, and they want to emulate that. They want to be standing out there with gold medals around their necks. They know they have to put all that hard work in, and they treat every match as if it’s their last one.”
This one was never close.
Salisbury’s top four players ó Hannah Lebowitz, Joy Loeblein, Erika Nelson and Katelyn Storey ó won 6-0, 6-0.
Anna Page took a 6-1, 6-0 decision at No. 5, and Sierra Davis won 6-2, 6-1 at No. 6.
Myers said the Hornets were sharp because of the recent regional.
“They all played exceptional matches today,” he said. “It really helped over the weekend in the regionals getting some top-level competition. All six girls got a number of matches in, and that certainly helps getting them ready for the next week and a half.”
Even though the match was wrapped up after singles, the Hornets and Colts played doubles.
The teams of Lebowitz-Page (8-0), Nelson-Storey (8-0) and Loeblein-Davis (8-3) added to their win totals.
Salisbury will play host to a quarterfinal match with the Shelby-North Stanly winner next Tuesday. Both teams took unbeaten records into the second round.
“I was impressed with North Stanly this weekend, and Shelby has some good depth,” Myers said.
Myers is pointing to Nov. 7, when the dual-team championships will be held in Burlington.
“Playing Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday of next week is our goal,” Myers said.