As the top tennis team in the Northwest 1A conference, Mount Airy predictably had a good showing on the first day of the conference tournament. Matt Kessler’s performance, however, was anything but predictable.

Kessler, a freshman and the No. 9 seed heading into the tournament, defeated Elkin’s Jerel Duncan, 6-0, 6-0 in the first round, then went on to upset top-ranked Bradley Coram of South Stokes by scores of 2-6, 7-5, 6-1.

“When a nine seed beats a one seed, that’s a big deal,” Mount Airy coach Frank Mayberry said. “After being down in the first set, Matt hung in there in the second and totally dominated the third.

“It was an extremely strong performance on Matt’s part. He’s got a high level of maturity for a freshman player. That enabled him to win the match.”

The Granite Bears’ Chance Hall also won his first-round match with Elkin’s Richard Gwynn, but fell in the second round.

In doubles, No. 1 seed Nick John and Brooks Mayberry cruised through the first round, most notably because they had a bye. The second round was almost as easy, as they racked up a 6-0, 6-0 victory. Eric Belton and Alex Ilyasov won in the first round to give Ilyasov a nice treat on his birthday. The second round wasn’t was sweet, though, as the duo lost, 6-3, 6-3.

John and Mayberry, as well as Kessler, advanced to regional play May 8 by virtue of their two victories. Hall and Belton and Ilyasov also have chance to head to regionals if they can each pull out two more wins from the consolation brackets.

Play resumes today at 4 p.m. at Mount Airy High School.

Davis’ streak ends

MORAVIAN FALLS — A day after running through the Mountain Valley 2A boys tennis tournament at breakneck speed, North Surry’s Tyler Davis hit a wall.

Davis, who upset two opponents on Monday, was dropped by Ashe County’s Chase Smith, the No. 2 seed in the tournament, 6-4, 6-1. Davis whittled a 4-1 deficit to 4-3 in the first set, but that was as close as he would get.

In doubles, Jake Dellinger and Nick Gillespie advanced to the May 8 regional tournament at the expense of the Greyhounds’ C.J. Hunter and Brandon Orndorff, 8-4. Hunter and Orndorff won their first match of the consolation round before being shot down by the Golden Eagles’ pair.

Tuesday ended the Mountain Valley 2A tennis tournament.