The N.C. High School Athletic Association girls tennis dual-team playoffs begin Monday, and before we get to the playoff preview, let’s talk about the latest change.

Last year, the NCHSAA brackets expanded from 32 teams in 4A and 3A and 2A to 64 in the first two and 48 in the last one. It was a welcomed change.

This year, the NCHSAA had to tack on a week to the dual-team playoffs due to Hurricane Helene. Terrible circumstances surrounding the need for this change, but it might be one the NCHSAA needs to look at further. For one, it gets girls tennis championships off the same day as volleyball and cross country (we have been crowning 16 state champions on this day… when we go to eight classes that could mean as many as 32!). It also gives the dual-team playoffs more time to breathe in case of rainy weather.

Chances are slim my great idea to make this permanent gets taken up by someone on the NCHSAA board (it’s been more resistant to my great ideas as of late), so enjoy this year’s playoff pace while you can.

Enjoy the predictions and links to our coverage below:

Bracket superlatives

Best first-round matchups

• 4A — Kinda stinks that (17) Ardrey Kell has (16) Northwest Guilford so early. Kinda surprised that Kell is on the road, too.
• 3A — In the West, look for (21) Fred T. Foard and (12) Northwest Cabarrus to go down to the wire.
• 2A — With 2A, there are a lot of byes, so I’m including potential second-round contests here too. I like the potential of (18) Franklin Academy at (2) Greene Central.
• 1A — Now, 1A has fewer teams, so this is a round-of-32 first round on Wednesday. (10) East Wilkes at (7) Uwharrie Charter might feature the most talent between both sides.

Upset alert

• 4A — I’ll give you two that you can argue are not upsets: (24) Enloe could knock off (9) Gray’s Creek and (28) Laney at (5) Corinth Holders.
• 3A — I could see (21) Harnett Central taking down (12) Croatan in the first round.
• 2A — (22) Raleigh Charter at (6) Seaforth could be much closer than it first appears.
• 1A — I’m not counting East Wilkes winning as an “upset” so give me (12) Elkin at (5) NCSSM-Morganton. That said, it’s tough to find true upsets in 1A.

Four favorites

• 4A — (5) Myers Park and (2) Providence in the West plus (1) Cardinal Gibbons and (2) Green Hope in the East.
• 3A — (1) Lake Norman Charter and (2) East Lincoln in the West, plus (1) Fike) and (4) Terry Sanford in the East.
• 2A — (1) Hendersonville, (3) Pine Lake Prep, (4) Burns from the West and (1) Research Triangle from the East.
• 1A — (1) Mount Airy, (3) Bishop McGuinness, (2) Highland Tech, and (10) East Wilkes all from the West. I don’t think the East has a title favorite.

A dark horse or two (cannot be a top-5 seed overall)

• 4A — (10) Cuthbertson and (12) Green Level could wreak havoc in their respective brackets.
• 3A — Respect (11) North Lincoln in the West and (11) C.B. Aycock in the East. You’ve been warned.
• 2A — I don’t consider (14) NCSSM-Durham a dark horse in the East, but in the West there’s a chance (18) Community School of Davidson goes on a deep playoff run.
• 1A — (2) Chatham Charter in the East. Could get to the title match — but have they closed the gap on the West?

Ranking the top players

• 4A
  1. Teagan Reilly, Myers Park — back-to-back 4A singles semifinalist
  2. Sophia Catino, New Hanover — two-time first team all-state selection
  3. Laura Gomez, Panther Creek — returning all-state player, now 7-0 in singles
  4. Addi McDowell, Jordan — the freshman has burst onto the scene this year and is 14-0
  5. Aleksandra Wallace, Providence — now 13-1 at No. 1 singles against a tough schedule
• 3A
  1. Luci Falls, Lake Norman Charter — top player on arguably the state’s top team
  2. Karysn Sink, East Lincoln — was all-state two years ago, is 18-0 now
  3. Emma Carver, North Lincoln — only loss this year is a third-set tiebreaker to Sink
  4. Pauline Bui, Terry Sanford — won 3A doubles last year as a freshman
  5. Shea Bieniek, Cape Fear — has 129 total singles and doubles victories in her career
• 2A
  1. Mallory Aull, Pine Lake Prep — the freshman has some great wins already this year
  2. Victoria Zhou, Research Triangle — top player for arguably the top team in 2A
  3. Anna Katherine Medlin, Greene Central — has 132 career singles and doubles victories, singles runner-up last year
  4. Celina Chen, NCSSM-Durham — only two losses this year are to Zhou
  5. Jadan Rounds, CSD — was a singles semifinalist last year
• 1A
  1. Lucia Neves, Bishop McGuinness — the freshman is undefeated this year
  2. Carrie Marion, Mount Airy — 1A’s most decorated player; only loss this year came to Neves
  3. Madison Darnell, Highland Tech — defending singles state champion
  4. Manya Nallagangu, NCSSM-Morganton — reigning singles runner-up
  5. Sasha Korjova, Triangle Math & Science — a member of last year’s 1A doubles champion duo who is undefeated

Regional and Championship predictions

• 4A — Myers Park over Cardinal Gibbons
  • East: Cardinal Gibbons over Green Hope
  • West: Myers Park over Providence
• 3A — Lake Norman Charter over Terry Sanford
  • East: (4) Terry Sanford over (7) Cape Fear
  • West: (1) Lake Norman Charter over (2) East Lincoln
• 2A — Research Triangle over Pine Lake Prep
  • East: (1) Research Triangle over (14) NCSSM-Durham
  • West: (3) Pine Lake Prep over (1) Hendersonville
• 1A — Bishop McGuinness over Chatham Charter
  • East: (2) Chatham Charter over (1) Roxboro Community
  • West: (3) Bishop McGuinness over (1) Mount Airy
• NCISAA (currently in semifinals)
  • 4A — (1) Charlotte Country Day over (3) Providence Day
  • 3A — (1)Cape Fear Academy over (2) Davidson Day
  • 2A — (1) Gaston Day over (6) Epiphany School
  • 1A — (1) Lawrence Academy over (3) Oakwood School

Source: highschoolot.com