The Salem High tennis teams had a long day Friday as both the boys and girls were shut out by Blacksburg, 9-0. The boys were at home and the girls were in Blacksburg. The boys also lost 9-0 to Cave Spring last week.
“There is a truism that one improves by playing better competition,” said Salem coach Steve Lily. “If correct, playing strong Cave Spring and Blacksburg teams consecutively could serve Salem well in the coming week.”
The girls pulled off a 6-3 win over a Cave Spring team that beat them 9-0 the first time around.
“Their coach decided not to play their number one and two in singles (tournament players) to allow others to play,” said Salem coach Jill Perez. “I honestly think she thought that they would win the match regardless. Well, we surprised them by winning five of the six singles before going into doubles. The girls were thrilled, and it was a nice way to show them how much they have improved over the season.”
Singles winners for the Spartans were Elisa Nguyen, Christine Burr, Diya Patel, Kiele Dudley and Gracie Michael.
The girls also won against Pulaski County last week, 9-0.
This week Salem had Hidden Valley Tuesday and today the Spartans will make up matches with Lord Botetourt that were rained out last week. The boys are at home and the girls will play at Hollins University. On Friday the girls will host Christiansburg.
