This was supposed to be a rebuilding year.
When Orange women’s tennis coach Justin Webb held his first practice under a sweltering sun on August 1, eight players showed up. Only one of them was among his top six singles players from the 2021 squad, which was the first team in school history to win a match in the State Dual Playoffs.
Ten weeks later, Webb can say with certainty that eight was enough.
Last Thursday, the Lady Panthers defeated Eastern Alamance 8-1 to persevere a share of the Central Carolina Conference championship. Orange became the first team, men’s or women’s, to win a conference championship in tennis in the 61-year history of the school.
At the very least, Orange and Walter Williams will tie for the conference championship. Orange finished its conference slate 11-1. Williams still has dual matches against Eastern Alamance and Person this week. The Central Carolina Conference singles and doubles tournament begins on Friday at the Burlington Tennis Center.
Orange is now guaranteed a spot in the 3A State Dual Team Tournament, which will start next Wednesday. In terms of wins, it is already the most successful tennis team in school history with an 18-2 overall record following Monday’s win over Riverside, which concluded the regular season.
When Webb is asked whether he anticipated this group being Orange’s first conference championship team in tennis, his answer starts with a chuckle.
“If I’m being honest, it was not something that I predicted,” Webb said. “But I have to give it to the girls. We’ve been about seven or eight players deep throughout most of the season. Our group of girls has stayed committed. They’ve worked hard every day.”
Junior Erin Sollars and her younger sister Shannon have filled the top two singes slots most of the season. The Sollars’ sisters are also Orange’s top doubles team. In Orange’s 5-4 win over Williams on September 27, the Sollars sisters won 9-7 and clinched the dual match. Overall, the Sollars sisters are 14-2 in doubles play.
Shannon Sollars has a 12-5 singles record.
In order for Orange to have a successful season, several first-time starters would need a strong campaign. That’s where the emergence of senior Madelyn Horn has been so valuable. Horn, in her first year as a regular player, compiled a 27-4 overall record. She was 18-2 in singles matches. Horn and doubles partner Grace Allred are 6-0.
Junior Makayla Davis, another first year starter, went 10-7 in singles matches. Along with partner Isabel Jones, she compiled a 10-3 doubles mark.
At a time when multi-sport athletes have become scarce, Webb has a roster full of women who compete year around. Among his top singles players is Sydney Rogers, who frequently spends her early evenings going directly from tennis practice to football practice, where she is the kicker for head football coach DeVante Pettiford. In August, Rogers became the first female to score a point in Orange High football history.
This year, Rogers was 14-0 in singles matches. Including doubles play, she has 21 overall wins.
Two other singles players, Isabel Jones and Katelyn Van Mater, both play soccer. Along with Rogers, Jones and Van Mater helped the Orange women’s soccer team to its deepest run in the state playoffs ever last spring. They reached the third round after beating Harnett Central in Angier, followed by a victory over Cape Fear in Fayetteville.
Van Mater has also been a regular rotation player in basketball for Orange coach B.J. Condron since her freshman year. Last winter, the Orange women’s basketball team was the only hardwood squad from Hillsborough to reach the state playoffs.
“This is a special group of girls,” Webb said. “These girls don’t get tired. One of the things that I’ve never had to do was coach effort. These girls have gone out all season and competed extremely hard. That’s what has made it special. These are all competitors. They’re all winners in other sports, as well as tennis, now. They have this mentality about them that they want to go out there and win every match.”
After Orange defeated Eastern Alamance last week to take a share of the title, Webb called Andy Brown, the former Orange High Athletic Director and men’s basketball coach who also coached men’s and women’s tennis in his final years before retirement.
Webb coached the men’s team while Brown coached the women’s team before Webb replaced him.
“He’s been a good friend and a good mentor,” Webb said. “He started a good foundation at Orange before I arrived. He really started the foundation for this championship.”