High school tennis: Barr passes exam – Salisbury Post

Lucy Barr, 2023 CCC Champion

Lucy Barr

By Mike London
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SALISBURY – As a freshman tennis hopeful, Lucy Barr was No. 7 for the Salisbury Hornets in a sport where only six are allowed to play.

That disappointment could have broken her, made her quit the sport or find a new school. Instead, that humbling freshman year made her who she is as a senior at Salisbury: the Post’s Rowan County Player of the Year and one of the best in the state in 2A.

“That first year was hard because I had always played and had success, and for a while I was focused on myself,” Barr said. “But I know now that the first year was important. It has taught me so much. I have learned to be a good teammate. I learned how to encourage my teammates and be happy when they are successful. I learned to be part of a team.”

Learning that the team is more important than the individuals is a lesson that some learn later in life, and others never learn at all. Barr learned it early. It helped her become not only an excellent player, but also the leader of a team with an incredible tradition in the sport. Salisbury has lost just one Central Carolina Conference game since 2002.

Barr’s mother, Gwin Carter Barr, was part of that tradition as one of the highlights of the program’s first NCHSAA champions in 1985.

Lucy had golf clubs and tennis rackets in her hands almost from the moment she was old enough to walk. Her older brother, Charlie, got the golf gene. He is a successful Division I golfer at High Point University and has played in the US Amateur.

“But I was always more drawn to tennis,” Lucy said. “I really loved it.”

She seriously worked on her game and entered Salisbury’s lineup at No. 4 as a sophomore. That was the year she won a three-hour marathon race and developed a reputation as a competitor who would fight to the last point.

“My thing is to stay in a tough game until I find a way to get through it,” Barr said. “Sometimes it’s not about who has the best strokes. Having all the strokes is great, but tennis is above all a game of mental strength. I think that’s why I love it. I usually find a way to win.”

As a junior, Barr moved up to No. 2 singles for the Hornets, with Rowan County Player of the Year Millie Wymbs playing No. 1. Playing 2 was a lot more challenging than 4, especially in the big non-conference games. , but Barr usually had the upper hand. She won several individual championships in singles, was a state quarterfinalist and made all-region teams.

Barr, who rose to No. 1 for the first time as a senior, and the Hornets received the news this summer that Cora Wymbs, one of the team’s standouts, was transferring to the North Carolina School of Science & Math in Durham. . That changed the Hornets’ lives. It meant there would be two freshmen at the back of the starting lineup.

“Cora was a great player and a great teammate, so I was sad to see her leave,” Barr said. “For our team, it meant more responsibility for me when it came to helping and mentoring our freshmen. Their success was as important to me as my own matches at No. 1 in singles and doubles. Those freshmen (Anna Kate Goodman and Gabriella Fatovic) did great things and we had another exciting season. We had a lot of support from the community. The Leonard family was there for every home game.”

Barr was 15-1 in singles as an All-State senior. She and partner Meredith Williams won the conference and regional doubles championships and reached the 2A state semifinals.

Barr’s only loss was against strong 4A player Cox Mill.

“I got frustrated in that game and it’s easy to give up points when you get frustrated,” Barr said. “I learned from it. I didn’t let it happen again.”

Barr’s final match in charge of the Salisbury team was the 5–3 third round loss at Hendersonville in late October.

“We were all nervous, but the girls fought for it,” Barr said. “It was one of those games where every point counted, and we came through in some close games.”

In a “rebuild” season, Salisbury was 14-2 and won its 22nd straight CCC championship. Among other honors, Barr was a Rowan-Salisbury School System Female Athlete of the Month.

“It was quite a season for our girls, especially with two freshman starters and only seven on the team,” Salisbury coach Milt Griffith said. “A lot of people counted them out, but they did very well. Lucy played a big role in that. Not only by winning her matches, but also picking up everyone else and helping her teammates get the best out of themselves. She is now a very different Lucy than the one we saw when she was a freshman and sophomore. She has matured and she is a natural leader.”

High school tennis will likely be Barr’s last hurray in the sport.

She hasn’t made a college decision yet, but that will be a choice based on academics, not a tennis program. She plans a career as a medical assistant.

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In addition to Barr and Williams, Salisbury’s had a second doubles team: Addie Griffith and Lola Koontz qualified for the state tournament.

Carson’s Allie Martin bounced back from a torn ACL that wiped out her junior year to finish fourth in the region and was a state qualifier.

South Rowan’s Bella Caraccio and the doubles team of Olivia Maynor/Sophie Steedley qualified for the regional. West Rowan’s doubles team Autumn Yount/Emma Crider also qualified for the regional.

All the Hornet starters have collected great records. They all made the whole province.

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All-Rowan County tennis

Salisbury – Lucy Barr, Meredith Williams. Addie Griffith, Lola Koontz, Anna Kate Goodman, Gabriella Fatovic

West Rowan – Autumn Yount, Emma Crider, Olyvia Brown, Lucy Moore

South Rowan – Bella Caraccio, Sophie Steedley, Olivia Maynor

Carson Allie Martin, Maggie Cooper

East Rowan – Jaylen Jones

North Rowan – Olivia Neely

Player of the Year — Lucy Barr

Coach of the Year: Milton Griffith, Salisbury