In fall sports, if a team wins when it starts getting cold, they’re doing something right.
The Orange women’s tennis team did something unprecedented on Monday night. They won the first-ever state dual playoff match at Orange Tennis Courts.
Adelyn Alvis and Casey Robinson each won singles and d0ubles matches as the Lady Panthers defeated Northern Nash 5-2 in Hillsborough. In the history of the facility, which dates back over five decades, there has never been a state dual team playoff match in men’s or women’s tennis.
Orange, which received a #13 seed after finishing second in the Central Conference, will travel to Terry Sanford for the 2nd round on Wednesday.
It is the fourth win in the past three years for Orange in the state dual playoffs, all under head coach Justin Webb. Prior to 2021, Orange had never won a state playoff match in team history.
“It’s a good feeling,” Webb said. “I think it speaks to the where the program is and where it was when I started coaching girl’s tennis.”
Orange started coaching the women’s tennis team in 2017 the Lady Panthers were in the Big 8 Conference and finished 6-15. Since then, Webb has done plenty of recruiting within the school, focusing on athletes from other sports that have some spare time in the fall.
Alvis, who runs track and field during the spring, has been a constant starter in singles and doubles. Sophomore Molly Kruse, who plays soccer, teams with senior Shannon Sollars on the top doubles team.
“Our numbers have gone up astronomically since then,” said Webb, who is also a history teacher at Orange. “When you have lots of numbers, you have lots of good athletes. It helps improve your program, for sure.”
Webb’s most successful team in 2022 is still the only tennis team, regardless of gender, to win the Central Conference Tournament championship. They included Sydney Rogers, who eventually signed to play soccer at Catawba College; Isabel Jones, Makayla Jones and Katelyn Van Mater, all of whom also played soccer.
“I think the girls help spread the word,” Webb said. “The girls come out here every day and they’re really good friends. They have a positive attitude and they all like playing sports. And they all start to love to play tennis. These girls are all just amazing people and they bond really well.”
Orange reached the state playoffs, where they had an interminable trip to Kill Devil Hills to face First Flight. Total drive: 9 hours round trip, but the ride home felt good after Orange prevailed 5-2.
On Monday night, Orange won four of the six singles matches. In her final match at Orange, senior Esther Edgerton 6-3, 6-4. Sollars and Kruse were leading their doubles match when it was called after Alvis and Robinson clinched the team victory with a 8-2 victory over Joy Aycock and Ella Mallory at #3 doubles.
Orange freshman Kalynn Mason won the longest individual match of the season at #2 singles. Mason defeated Taylor McIntyre 7-5, 4-6, 14-12 in a ten-point tiebreaker. Mason has now won nine singles matches this year.
Orange junior Oakley Gaddy won another match that went to a 10-point, third set tiebreaker. Gaddy defeated Carisma Deans 6-2, 2-6, 10-5. Alvis won against Joy Aycock 6-4, 6-0. At #6 singles, Robinson rolled past Ella Mallory 6-2, 6-0.
The Lady Panthers improved to 14-4.
Since 2021, Orange has now won 62 dual team matches.
Orange began the year without a home court to play on. Its regular court was being renovated, which was eventually completed in mid-september. Until then, Orange had to play home matches against Mebane and practice at various facilities, including Fairview.
On Monday night, they likely finished the season on its homecourt doing something that no Orange tennis team had done before.
