Mount Airy splits matches against Starmount, Elkin

Mount Airy moved to 10-5 on the season by splitting matches against Starmount and Elkin.

Mount Airy opened the week by hosting Starmount on April 15. The match served as Senior Night, during which the Bears honored their only member of the Class of 2024: Connor Sechrist.

Sechrist picked up a pair of victories for the Bears in the 9-0 sweep of the Rams. The senior topped Cris Gonzalez 6-0, 6-0 in No. 2 singles, then teamed with top-seeded Kannon Strickland to beat Ethan Wood and Javier Mondragon 8-1 in No. 1 doubles.

Strickland and Chase Moore joined Sechrist as Granite Bears to win their singles matches 6-0, 6-0. Strickland defeated Wood on court one, while Moore beat Luis de la Fuente on court three.

The most competitive singles match between the Bears and Rams was held on court four. Kieran Slate, who won his match against Starmount in a third-set tiebreaker in the teams’ first meeting on March 21, got the job done in straight sets this time with a 6-4, 6-1 victory against Mondragon.

Mount Airy’s Beau Brown and Joe Hauser only dropped a combined three games across No. 5 and No. 6 singles, and neither lost in the second set.

The Bears completed the sweep of Starmount by only surrendering a combined six games in doubles. Strickland/Sechrist only lost one game in No. 1 doubles, as did Moore/Chase Hiatt against Jacob Shore/Angel de la Fuente in No. 3 doubles.

Mount Airy’s final win against Starmount saw Slate/Hauser defeat Gonzalez/Luis de la Fuente 8-4 in No. 2 doubles. Starmount dropped to 6-7 overall with Monday’s loss.

Mount Airy returned to the courts the following day to host the defending 1A State Champions on April 16.

The Granite Bears were the only team to win four individual matches against the undefeated Buckin’ Elks in 2023. On Tuesday the Bears became just the third team all season — and the first team in the 1A division — to win at least three individual matches against the Elks, but it wasn’t enough to take down the defending champs in the 6-3 loss.

Elkin won four of six singles matches while only dropping a combined nine games in those victories. No. 1 Owen Jennings and No. 2 Connor Ballard each won their second set 6-0 for the only set sweeps of the match. Jennings won the first set of his match against Strickland 6-1, while Ballard defeated Sechrist 6-2 in the first set of their match.

No. 3 Aidan Ballard and No. 4 Luke McComb only dropped three total games in their respective matches against Moore and Slate. Aidan won 6-2, 6-1, while McComb won 6-1, 6-2.

Brown and Hauser won tight contests at No. 5 and No. 6 singles to keep Mount Airy’s chances alive entering doubles. Brown and Jeremy Zamudio split their first two sets, with Zamudio taking the first set 7-5 and Brown taking the second 6-3, then Brown clinched the win 10-4 in a third-set tiebreaker. Hauser won the No. 6 match 6-4, 7-5 against Webb Snyder.

Moore/Hauser had Mount Airy’s only win in doubles by defeating Zamudio/Snyder 8-1 in the No. 3 match. Elkin countered with an 8-0 win in No. 2 doubles as the Ballards defeated Slate/Brown, then Jennings/McComb wrapped up the match with an 8-4 win over Strickland/Sechrist on court one.

Elkin improved to 13-1 overall and 9-0 in the Northwest 1A Conference with the win over Mount Airy. Elkin’s win also clinched the team’s second-consecutive NW1A Title.

Mount Airy will close the regular season with matches at South Stokes and East Wilkes. Mount Airy only has to win one of its final two matches to secure the NW1A Conference’s No. 2 spot.

April 15: Mount Airy 9, Starmount 0

Singles

1. Kannon Strickland (MA) def. Ethan Wood (ST) 6-0, 6-0

2. Connor Sechrist (MA) def. Cris Gonzalez (ST) 6-0, 6-0

3. Chase Moore (MA) def. Luis de la Fuente (ST) 6-0, 6-0

4. Kieran Slate (MA) def. Javier Mondragon (ST) 6-4, 6-1

5. Beau Brown (MA) def. Angel de la Fuente (ST) 6-1, 6-0

6. Joe Hauser (MA) def. Jacob Shore (ST) 6-2, 6-0

Doubles

1. Strickland/Sechrist (MA) def. Wood/Mondragon (ST) 8-1

2. Slate/Hauser (MA) def. Gonzalez/L. de la Fuente (ST) 8-4

3. Moore/Chase Hiatt (MA) def. Shore/A. de la Fuente (ST) 8-1

April 15: Mount Airy 3, Elkin 6

Singles

1. Owen Jennings (EK) def. Kannon Strickland (MA) 6-1, 6-0

2. Connor Ballard (EK) def. Connor Sechrist (MA) 6-2, 6-0

3. Aidan Ballard (EK) def. Chase Moore (MA) 6-2, 6-1

4. Luke McComb (EK) def. Kieran Slate (MA) 6-1, 6-2

5. Beau Brown (MA) def. Jeremy Zamudio (EK) 5-7, 6-3, 1-0 (10-4)

6. Joe Hauser (MA) def. Webb Snyder (EK) 6-4, 7-5

Doubles

1. Jennings/McComb (EK) def. Strickland/Sechrist (MA) 8-4

2. C. Ballard/A. Ballard (EK) def. Slate/Brown (MA) 8-0

3. Moore/Hauser (MA) def. Zamudio/Snyder (EK) 8-1