Five Mount Airy tennis players are still alive, but the other eight local players were ousted from the state playoffs Friday.

All six 2A players and an East Surry doubles team lost in the first two rounds of the regional tournaments.

Surry Central Coach Dennis Miller said his doubles team of Kennedy Dockery and Mikayla Cox won their first-round match, but then went up against powerful Salisbury in the second round and lost.

The same held true for North Surry standout Sarah Glasco, who won in the first round, but faced a Salisbury player in the second match.

Salisbury is the top team in 2A and even swept mighty Mount Airy in a preseason scrimmage.

Playing at Catawba College in Salisbury, Marlee Wilmoth, Savannah Wilson and Megan Gillespie all fell in the first round for the Lady Eagles.

At East Montgomery, the 1A tournament saw all seven local players win in the first round.

Unfortunately, East Surry’s Lauren Thompson and Tiffany King then had to face off with Mount Airy’s Jade Hughes and Elizabeth Dinkins.

Bear Coach Scott Kniskern said he hated that the brackets worked out like that; he didn’t want to be the team that sent East Surry home.

Thompson and King put up a fight as Hughes and Dinkins won 6-3, 6-3.

In the first round, Hughes and Dinkins beat a Chatham Central team 6-2, 6-1.

The other Bears team of Davi Barbour and Haley Thomas were seeded first and won both matches pretty easily.

They beat an East Wilkes team 6-3, 6-0, then topped Styers/Poston from Gray Stone Day 6-2, 6-0.

In the semifinals today, Barbour and Thomas will face East Montgomery’s Kellis and Hinson, the younger sisters of the doubles duo that won the state title last year.

On the other side of the brackets, Hughes and Dinkins face an unseeded team that pulled off a slight upset, Gray Stone’s Fowler and Herlocker.

In singles play, the top four seeds all held their spots through two rounds.

Mount Airy’s Jordan Jackson was named the top seed and raced through two matches by a combined 24-1.

She swept Catherine Onia, Lake Norman Charter, 6-0, 6-0. Then she won her quarterfinal match against Jordan DeJaco, Gray Stone Day 6-1, 6-0.

In the semifinals today, Jackson will face Bishop McGuinness’ Kyndall Cortes for the fourth time this season. Jackson beat her both times in the regular season, then in the conference title match last week.

On the other side, the second seed, Meghan Hedgepeth, Gray Stone Day, faces third seed Hannah Archer, Lake Norman Charter.

Reach Jeff Linville at jlinville@heartlandpublications.com or at 719-1920.