Strickland, Sechrist reach 1A Tennis semifinals

Mount Airy’s Kannon Strickland and Connor Sechrist made it all the way to the 2A Doubles State Semifinals before falling to the eventual champions.

Strickland, a 2023 doubles state runner-up, returned for his second state tournament, while Sechrist made his first appearance. The pair entered states as the No. 3 seed from the 1A West.

Strickland/Sechrist opened the tournament with a 6-2, 6-0 quarterfinal victory over Rosewood’s Joseph Bailey/Aedan Peacock.

The Mount Airy duo faced Elkin’s Aidan Ballard/Connor Ballard in the semifinals. The Northwest 1A conference rivals didn’t meet in a doubles match during the regular season, but the Ballards did defeat Strickland/Sechrist 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) in the NW1A Conference Championship.

The Ballards won the state semifinal match 6-2, 6-1, then went on to win the state championship 6-3, 6-2 against Triad Math & Science’s Prahalad Srinivasan/Cooper Fielding.

Strickland/Sechrist finished the season 21-7 as a team.