From staff reports

Salisbury hosted the 2A Midwest Regional individual tennis tournament Friday and Saturday and sent five players to the state tournament.

The doubles final was all Hornets, with seniors Maria Capito and Julia Honeycutt winning against their freshman teammates Emma Nianouris and Lillian Rusher, 6-1, 6-1.

Capito/Honeycutt won against North Surry’s Katherine Parsons/Callie Willard, 6-0, 6-1, in the first round. Nianouris/Rusher won 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the first round against Surry Central’s Sarah Marion/Haily Robertson.

In the second round, Capito/Honeycutt beat Ashe County’s Mackenzie Wood/Anna Corley, 6-0, 6-0, while Nianouris/Rusher won against Forbush’s Alyssa Southern/Megan Smith 6-1, 6-1.

In the semifinals, Capito/Honeycutt beat Surry Central’s Hannah Pardue/Sarah Wyble 6-0, 6-1, while Nianouris/Rusher won against Ledford’s Carrie Cotts/Olivia Carlson  6-1, 6-2.

Pardue/Wyble won the match for third place against the Ledford girls.

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Salisbury senior Bethanie Stauffer plays No. 6 for the Hornets when everyone is present, but she finished fourth in singles in the regional to qualify for the state tournament.

Stauffer topped CATA’s Grace Wiggs 6-0, 6-1 in the first round. She won against Mount Pleasant’s Sydney Gray 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the second round.

Atkins’ Diana Alaxandrov won against Stauffer 5-7, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 in the semfinals.

Alexandrov lost to North Davidson’s Khali Maxfield-Davis 6-0, 6-1 in the championship match.

Stauffer lost by default to Yinka Mason of Atkins in the third-place match.  Mason won a tiebreaker 7-6 (7-5) in the first set.

Salisbury’s Meredith Burton lost to Mason in the first round, 6-1, 6-1.

Prep volleyball

No. 17 seed South Rowan won at No. 16 West Stanly 25-12, 25-22 and 25-18  in the first round of the 2A state playoffs on Saturday.

Jenna Strickland had 32 digs. Kira Rymer had nine digs, four aces and 18 kills. Michaela Hallman had 13 digs and 24 assists. Janiya Downs ahd 14 kills and 15 digs.

South (19-7) will play at top-seeded West Iredell (23-3) on Tuesday. West Iredell swept Lincolnton on Saturday.

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No. 16 seed West Rowan (20-6) won against 17th-seeded Sun Valley 19-25, 25-15, 25-16 and 26-24 in Mount Ulla in the first round of the 3A playoffs.

West will play at top-seeded North Iredell (23-2) for the fourth time on Tuesday.

North Iredell swept Western Guilford on Saturday.

From staff reports

OLIN — West Rowan had some struggles early but came on strong and beat North Iredell, 47-15, in North Piedmont Conference action on Friday.

West (5-4, 2-1 NPC) trailed 12-7 late in the first quarter but dominated the rest of the way.

The Falcons had five rushing touchdowns. Jayden Jones had scoring runs of 66 and 11 yards. His 66-yarder put West on the board.

Martavio Rankin had two short TD runs, while Jaden Perry tacked on West’s final score in the fourth quarter.

Payne Stolsworth threw two touchdown passes to Jalen Houston.

Stolsworth’s first connection with Houston gave the Falcons the lead for good at 14-12 late in the first quarter.

Stolsworth threw for  263 yards. Jones ran for 166 yards. Houston had 116 receiving yards.

W. Rowan 14    14    12   7 — 47

N. Iredell    12     0      3   0  — 15

First Quarter

NI: Jeshua Button 46-yard pass to John Menscer (Spencer Morrison kick no good) 10:31

WR: Jaden Jones 66-yard rush (Fredrico Cruz kick) 9:32

NI: Jeshua Button 2-yard rush (Morrison kick no good) 3:39

WR: Payne Stolsworth 36-yard pass to Jaylen Houston (Cruz kick) :22

Second Quarter

WR: Martavio Rankin 1-yard rush (Cruz kick) 7:40

WR: Rankin 3-yard rush (Cruz kick) :57

Third Quarter

Stolsworth 36-yard pass to Jalen Houston (Cruz kick blocked) 11:40

WR: Jones 11-yard rush (Cruz kick blocked)

NI: Morrison 32-yard Field Goal

Fourth Quarter

Jaden Perry 6-yard rush (Cruz kick) 6:25

S. Iredell 63, East 20

TROUTMAN — North Piedmont Conference front-runner South Iredell dominated East Rowan on Friday.

The Mustangs trailed 63-7 going to the fourth quarter.

Sam Wall had an 85-yard kickoff return TD  for East (2-7, 0-3) in the first quarter.

Noah Green got the other two scores for the Mustangs on fourth-quarter runs.

South Iredell QB Brady Pope was 15-for-19 for 354 yards and had six TD passes — all in the first half.

Pope added a receiving TD on a trick play late in the second quarter.

Pope watched the second half from the sideline.

Pope’s 15 completions brought his total to 660, good for fifth-most all-time in state history. He needs   22 more to pass current UNC QB Chazz Surratt for fourth.

Trey Page caught four passes for 125 yards and two TDs in the first half,  while Tavis White caught five passes for 162 yards. He had a receiving TD and two rushing TDs.

The Vikings are 7-2 and 3-0 in the NPC.

S. Iredell     29  27     7     0 — 63

E. Rowan       7    0     0   13 — 20

First Quarter

SI—35-yard Pope pass to Page (2pt conversion good), 9:25

ER—85-yard Sam Walls Kickoff return (PAT good), 9:12

SI—23-yard Pope pass to Page (2pt failed), 8:07

SI—8-yard Pope pass to Dydrion Leach (Knapp PAT), 2:36

SI—25-yard Tavis White run (2pt good), :34

Second Quarter

SI—4-yard Page pass to Pope (Knapp PAT), 9:37

SI—10-yard Pope pass to Ty Everhart (Knapp PAT), 7:17

SI—44-yard Pope pass to White (Knapp PAT), 7:17

SI—33-yard Pope pass to Darius Smyre (Moyer PAT), 2:03

Third Quarter

SI—White 4-yard run (Juarez PAT), 7:23

Fourth Quarter

ER—Green 10-yard run (PAT good), 9:00

ER—Green 8-yard run (PAT failed), 1:04

A.L. Brown 28, NWC 15

KANNAPOLIS — Jordan Medley threw three touchdown passes on Friday, and A.L. Brown (8-1, 3-0) stayed tied for first in the South Piedmont Conference with a 28-15 win at Northwest Cabarrus.

Medley’s 33-yard scoring pass to Antonio Knight gave the Wonders a 7-0 lead. Malik Keller scored on a punt blocked by Jalen Goode for a 14-0 lead.

Medley’s 22-yard scoring pass to Jalen Nixon came late in the first half and stretched the Wonders’ lead.

Medley, who had 150 passing yards, hit Nixon with another TD pass for the Wonders’ only score of the second half, but the Wonders’ defense made a 28-3 lead hold up.

The Wonders had three interceptions, including two by Jaran Young. Justin Holsclaw had the other one.

A.L. Brown overcame 150 yards in penalties and has won seven in a row.