The Lady Huskies Tennis team finished up their regular season on Tuesday evening when they hosted a non-conference match with Alexander Central. The Huskies had a solid showing against the larger classified Cougars, who compete in the NCHSAA 4A class, as Ashe won the match with a final team score of 5-1 (doubles matches were cancelled due to rain).

The victory moved the Huskies to a 5-9 record on the season, and they finished conference play with a 4-8 record. Two teams in the MVAC did not field tennis teams with North Wilkes and West Wilkes not having a program for the fall season.

The 4-8 record places the Huskies in a dismal position regarding hopes of qualifying for the NCHSAA Dual Team Playoffs. The MVAC receives one bid into the playoffs for the 2A schools, and Starmount has the highest finish of 2A teams thus far in the MVAC with a 7-4 record at the start of this week as they had one match remaining (results of their match were unknown at press time). Even with a loss, Starmount had a significant enough lead over the other 2A schools in the MVAC to secure the MVAC 2A bid into the Dual Team Playoffs.

Ashe is currently the second ranked 2A school, with Wilkes Central right on their heels with a 3-8 MVAC record. The final match for the Eagles was against Forbush on Thursday evening. Forbush is entering the match without a single victory on the season.

A victory by Wilkes Central would put the Huskies and Eagles tied with a MVAC record of 4-8 each, and they split matches during regular season play, as the Eagles and Huskies would be vying for the only wildcard entry into the NCHSAA 2A Dual Team Playoffs.

In the Huskies victory over Alexander Central to close out the season, the highlight for Ashe was not the 6-0 6-0 victory of Courtney Bowers in the first seed, or the 6-2 6-0 victory by Lizzie Hanes at the second seed. The spotlight fell on Allie Weaver, in the fourth seed, who defeated her opponent 6-3 6-3 in her final match at home as a Husky.

Weaver is the Huskies only senior on the squad and competed the entire season as the fourth seed in singles.

Weaver has had a good season for the Huskies, stepping into the top six seeds after competing in exhibitions last season. Weaver is a consistent player that has won some close matches giving the Huskies a customary victory in singles play.

Along with Weaver’s victory, Bowers, Hanes, and Haley Maloney each claimed victories, with Amanda Tugman dropping the fifth seed match for Ashe’s only loss on the night.

The Huskies are looking to take momentum off of the 5-1 victory heading into next weeks MVAC Individuals Tournament, which is hosted at Wilkes Central on Tuesday and Wednesday. Each MVAC team will send two doubles squads and two singles competitors to the MVAC Tournament. From the Conference Tournament, the individuals or doubles squads that qualify will advance to the NCHSAA Western Regionals, which is a qualifier for the NCHSAA State Tournament.