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The Lady Husky tennis team lost a hard-fought battle to Wilkes Central on Monday, falling 5-3. The final doubles match of the day was called due to lightning and will be completed the next time the two teams face each other.

“They (Ashe) played hard, but the ball just did not bounce our way,” said head coach Larry Dix. “This was a hard match to lose, but I felt very good about this experience.”

Ashe captured two singles wins during the match. Top seeded Haley Maloney was a 6-4, 6-0 winner over Frankie McKinney. Second seeded Anna Wooten also scored a win, taking down Lindsey VanNoy in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3.

Wilkes Central came out on top in each of the four other singles competitions, including two tiebeaker wins that could have went either way.

Third seeded Mary Hollis defeated Ashe’s Kasey Curcio, 6-3, 6-4. In the battle of fourth seeded players, Maggie Witherspoon won the first set for the Lady Huskies, taking a 6-3 win over Emily Faw. However, Faw bounced back to take the second set 6-4, and took the third set tiebreaker, 10-3.

Madison Hayes defeated Mary-Austin Tugman 6-1, 6-0 in the fifth seeded match while Zoe Aguayo edged past Hallie Brown 7-5, 4-6, 10-6.

In doubles play, Maloney and Wooten remained undefeated on the season with a 9-7 win over McKinney and Hollis. VanNoy and Faw were 8-1 winners over Curcio and Tugman in the final completed match. Witherspoon and Brown were leading 4-3 when the third doubles match was suspended.

It was a very competitive match against a good team, and Coach Dix is happy to see that his team is getting more playing experience each time out.

“We have several players who are new to the top six seeds, and just need more playing time and experience,” said Dix. “I think with more court time, their game will become more consistent. We have a lot of talent on the team, and with hard work, I think the team will finish the season strong.”

The Lady Huskies now sit at 2-2 overall and 2-2 in the Mountain Valley Athletic Conference.

Ashe travels to Elkin for a match on Thursday evening, and will return to the court at home against Starmount on Tuesday, Aug. 28.