The Hornets.

Staff report

SALISBURY — A stellar Salisbury boys tennis season ended at home on Wednesday with a 5-3 loss to Pine Lake Prep in the 2A West regional final.

Coach Milton Griffith’s second-seeded Hornets had a first-round bye and won three challenging playoff matches at home to reach 2A’s Final Four. They finished 20-2.

Pine Lake Prep (14-4) had state runner-up Jackson Grathwohl playing No. 1 singles and had a state semifinalist team of Dylan Patel/Christian Endsjo playing No. 2 doubles.

That’s a lot of talent, but the Hornets were in the match. They were still even after singles.

Grathwohl, a junior, beat Salisbury sophomore AJ Jarrell 6-2, 6-0 at No. 1 singles, but Salisbury’s Davis brothers won at 2 and 3.

Gray Davis, a senior, beat Patel 6-4, 6-3. Bryant Davis, a junior, won 6-0, 6-1 against Mathew Morgan.

Salisbury junior Ben Lawson lost 6-2, 6-2 at No. 4 to Endsjo.

Farah Hassan, a senior who took up the sport 16 months ago, rolled at 5 singles for the Hornets, winning 6-1, 6-0 against Cole Venus.

Jashaun Epps, another senior who joined the lineup for the first time this season, lost a tight one. Epps prevailed 6-3 in the first set against Jay Schaeper, but dropped the second, 6-4. Schaeper took the third-set tiebreaker 10-7 to give Pine Lake Prep a 3-3 draw after singles.

Grathwohl teamed with Morgan for an 8-0 win against Jarrell/Lawson at No. 1 doubles.

The Davis brothers played together at No. 2 doubles, but lost 8-2 to Patel/Endsjo.

Pine Lake Prep moves on to the state championship match on Saturday.

Salisbury lost 6-0 in the fourth round to Pine Lake Prep in 2024.

The Hornets made their deepest dual team playoff run since they were 2A state runner-up in 2019.

Salisbury won its fourth straight Central Carolina Conference championship. Salisbury had six all-conference players and will have six all-county players. Five Hornets were qualifiers for the individual state tournament.