Two freshmen left Ting Park in Holly Springs on Saturday with N.C. High School Athletic Association 2A girls tennis state championships.

Pine Lake Prep freshman Mallory Aull won the the 2A singles state title, while the Research Triangle team of Victoria Zhou and Alexis Zhao won the doubles title. Zhao is a freshman for the Raptors.

Aull put on a dominant performance all weekend, dropping just seven games in her four matches. Aull defeated Seaforth’s Lillian McFall 6-0, 6-4 to win the championship on Saturday. Earlier in the day, she beat East Burke’s Braelyn Stilwell 6-0, 6-1 in the semifinals.

On Friday, Aull won her quarterfinals match over Eliza Basch of Research Triangle 6-1, 6-1. Her first round win over East Davidson’s Nikki Beal was by a 6-0, 6-0 score.

Aull is the third singles player to win a state title for Pine Lake Prep. Andersen Schubert won back-to-back titles in 2019 and again during the 2020-2021 amended COVID-19 season.

Zhou and Zhao won the doubles championship by a 6-1, 6-1 score over Cora Wymbs and Isabella Hocker from N.C. Science & Math in Durham. It marks the first 2A doubles championship for Research Triangle, but the school did win the 1A title during the 2020-2021 pandemic season.

In the semifinal round on Saturday, Zhou and Zhao defeated Mackenzie Pendleton and Marissa Pendleton of Burns 6-4, 6-1. On Friday, the Research Triangle duo picked up a 6-3, 6-0 win over Neeley Campbell and Liz Campbell of Maiden, and also beat North Johnston’s Sydney Daughtry and Camden Ford 6-0, 6-1.

Zhou and Zhao only lost 11 games over the course of the doubles tournament.

Research Triangle’s win also ends a run of four consecutive doubles championships for Hendersonville and is the first doubles championship for a 2A East team since Greene Central won the title in 2002.

Source: highschoolot.com