For the second year in a row, the Orange women’s tennis team has played almost all of its matches on the road. The construction of a new court at Orange High led the Lady Panthers to practice at the Duke School, about 20 minutes away from the Orange campus. Despite that, the senior class of Molly Kruse, Adelyn Alvis, Kyla Mehl, Oakley Gaddy, Casey Robinson, Evelyn Gover, Lindsay Woodell, and Abilene Loter has been among the most successful in team history. Over the last three years, Orange has gone 39-15. Last year, they hosted the first state playoff match in the history of the program, beating Northern Nash 5-2. This season, despite not playing a match in Hillsborough until Thursday night, Orange has still gone 12-3 and is currently in third place in the Big 7 Conference. Kruse returned to the courts this year after an injury suffered on the soccer pitch. Alvis was the 2024 Central Conference Female Field Athlete of the Year in track & field. Mehl is a three-sport athlete who helped the women’s basketball team win a state playoff game for the first time since 2017 last winter. Gaddy is also a member of the women’s soccer team that hosted a state playoff game for the first time ever last year. Orange is set to make the state playoffs and will wrap up the regular season next week.
