Jordan Jackson

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CARY — Mount Airy will have players in both the singles and doubles finals this morning at the state 1A tennis championship.

Reigning state champion Jordan Jackson will defend her title in the singles final.

Davi Barbour and Haley Thomas will compete for the doubles title.

The top four singles players and the top four doubles teams from the western half of the state went against the top players from the East in the quarterfinals.

All the East players lost, noted Coach Scott Kniskern. It was an all-West semifinal in both singles and doubles, the first time Kniskern has ever seen that happen at the state level.

Jade Hughes and Elizabeth Dinkins won in the quarterfinals 6-2, 6-0 over Ashleigh Cleveland and Erin Rymiszewski, N.C. School of Science and Math.

However, then they lost in the semifinals to Libby Fowler and Brooke Herlocker of Gray Stone Day 6-3, 6-1.

After breezing through a quaterfinal match 6-1, 6-0 with River Mill Academy, Barbour and Thomas won in the semifinals 7-5, 6-4 over East Montgomery’s Brynn Hinson and Monica Kellis.

Both finals are an exact rematch of the regional finals last week, said Kniskern.

Fowler and Herlocker beat Barbour and Thomas last time 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

Jackson won in the first round over Casey Langer, Franklin Academy, 6-2, 6-0.

Then in the semifinals, she matched up with Meghan Hedgepeth, Gray Stone Day, and won 6-2, 6-2.

In the final, she will face Hannah Archer, Lake Norman Charter, who beat her last week 6-3, 6-2.

“The score does not reflect how close the match actually was,” Kniskern said shortly after that match.

They also met on Tuesday in the dual-team playoffs. The Bears won the match, but Archer defeated Jackson there, too, 6-3, 6-1.

The matches were slated to begin at 9 a.m. today at the Cary Tennis Center. However, because of the threat of rain, organizers were considering moving the matches to N.C. State University’s indoor courts for an 8 a.m. start.

Regardless of the outcome of these matches, the Lady Bears will continue in the 1A team playoffs next week. Mount Airy hosts Chatham Central Monday at 4 p.m.