Before leaving for Cary and the NCHSAA tennis tournament over the weekend, the list of imperatives for Mount Airy doubles partners Ellie Case and Jordan Gwyn did not begin with rackets and balls. Instead, the top priorities were diamond earrings, a tennis shoe with a hole in it and a black headband.

It’s only fitting that the inseparable seniors share superstitious tendencies. Case sports a pair of diamond earrings given to her by her grandmother and a black headband. Gwyn wears a pair of old tennis shoes, although it’s certainly not to be fashionable.

“My mom wants to get me a knew pair but I won’t let her,” Gwyn said. “My toe’s touching the ground.”

Whether it was due to the trinkets or not, Case and Gwyn had an excellent doubles season, going 21-5 and finishing as state 1A runners-up. That was an improvement from a junior campaign that saw the duo reach the state semifinals. And to think that four years ago they called themselves the “Exhibition Fatties” because they only played in exhibition matches and took advantage of the spread available to players in the meantime.

It was during that time Case and Gwyn were paired together. When Scott Kniskern took over as Mount Airy’s head coach two years ago, he had a talented duo to work with. More importantly, their experience was evident in the way they played.

“Something that I noticed is it’s one thing to teach girls how they’re supposed to play doubles, but it’s another thing for them to actually blend well or play well together,” Kniskern said. “We had to fine tune it a little bit, but they knew what the other was going to do and they reacted well together.”

This year, they took it to another level. In an almost predator-like manner, they zeroed in on opponents and found a way to take them out.

“We kind of pinpoint the weaknesses of the other team,” Case said. “If a girl’s backhand is weaker, we’ll hit it to her backhand.”

When the ball was on their side of the court, the pair knew where to be or shouted to the other to back them up.

In high school tennis, six singles matches are played first, followed by three doubles matches. With many matches coming down to the doubles tandems, it’s no wonder why Kniskern stresses the importance of doubles at practice.

Simply pairing two good singles players together does not always make a good doubles team, Kniskern said. In Case and Gwyn’s case, their chemistry has worked wonders.

“We’re just really used to playing with each other,” Case said. “I can tell you what she’s going to do the next time. I can tell if she’s going to go cross court or down the line.”

Earlier in the season, the Granite Bears (17-1) fell to North Stokes after the team split wins during singles competition, but the Vikings swept the doubles portion. The next time the teams played it resulted in the same split in singles, but it was Mount Airy that swept doubles. On Tuesday, the Granite Bears and Vikings meet for a rubber match set in the third round of the NCHSAA 1A team tournament at 4 p.m. at Mount Airy.

If that match happens to come down to doubles again, Kniskern has confidence in his girls, especially Case and Gwyn. He said no matter how their days is going, they have the ability to shake it off and focus on the task at hand.

“It helps because they hang out off the court, so they’re kind of always together,” he said. “If one of them’s having a bad day or feeling down or whatever, since they know each other so well they say something the other thinks is funny and they can shake it off. It’s hard to do that if they don’t know each other really well.”

Laughter is another shared tendency for Case and Gwyn. With each story they tell, one looks at the other and they crack up. With all the success the duo and the Granite Bears tennis team is having, smiles have been abundant.

“We are fortunate to have a really good team,” Case said. “We love the girls and we love Scott and we’re really fortunate to have an awesome senior year.”

Contact Ed Phillipps at ephillipps@mtairynews.com or 719-1921.