“This season we’ve grown a lot together,” Monzavifar said. “I think we both fit each other’s strengths. I might not have the biggest serve, but he has one. And then I might not have the best forehand, but he does. So we’re able to complement each other where he can take forehand side, I can take backhand side.”
And all of this – without a loss – in the Western Highlands 1A/2A Conference champion Dragons’ first year as a program? The season ended on a 16-1 roll.
“I think as a first-year program, it’s super exciting to even make it this deep in dual-team,” Monzavifar said. “But we’re here to win it.”
“They just pull together and help each other out,” NCSSM-Morganton coach Wayne Giese added. “They’re really good at coaching each other. They can see when one of their teammates is not doing something and they’ll help correct him. It’s just team, team, team.”
“At the end of the day, if my strokes break down first, I’m losing the point,” Monzavifar said. “I got pulled wide and I’d just slice it back to him over and over again. And the more I grind and make him hit, the more likely I am to win the point. That was the entire match.”
For Giese, 76, this playoff run has been extra special. It’s the longest one he’s led a team on as a head tennis coach spanning all five current county high school programs and dating back to the 1990s.
“This has been the highlight,” he said. “I’ve had to pay my dues I guess through the years and all, but this is the highlight. These guys are on a different level. Their dedication, their skill, it all comes together, and it’s great to watch. It’s a little nerve-racking in matches like this where you don’t know for sure what’s going to become of it. But we’re there. And we’re going to keep on going as long as we can.”
NCSSM-M also on May 10 had three athletes compete at the NCHSAA 1A individual state championships at Cary Tennis Park. It was the largest number of state qualifiers from any Burke County tennis program – joining the Lady Dragons’ three from this past fall – since at least 2009.


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MEN'S TENNIS 2025 WEEK THREE 1-A POLL

  1-Bishop McGuinness
  2-Mount Airy
  3-Elkin
  4-North Carolina School of Science and Math: Morganton
  5-Eno River Academy
  6-Starmount
  7-Highland School of Technology
  8-Piedmont Community Charter School
  9-Uwharrie Charter School
10-Gray Stone Day School
Others Receiving Votes: Alleghany, Triangle Math and Science.

MEN'S TENNIS 2025 WEEK TWO 1-A POLL

  1-North Carolina School of Science and Math: Morganton
  2-Bishop McGuinness
  3-Mount Airy
  4-Piedmont Community Charter School
  5-Highland School of Technology
  6-East Wilkes
  7-Eno River Academy
  8-Gray Stone Day School
  9-Triangle Math and Science
10-Alleghany
Others Receiving Votes: Chatham Charter School, Uwharrie Charter School.

MEN'S TENNIS 2025 WEEK ONE 1-A POLL

  1-North Carolina Science and Math: Morganton
  2-Eno River Academy
  3-Highland School of Technology
  4-Elkin
  5-Bishop McGuinness
  6-Mount Airy
  7-East Wilkes
  8-Gray Stone Day School
  9-Uwharrie Charter School
10-Chatham Charter School
    -Voyager Academy
Others Receiving Votes: Alleghany, Cornerstone Charter School, Piedmont Community Charter School, Triangle Math and Science.

MEN'S TENNIS 2025 PRESEASON 1-A POLL

  1-North Carolina Science and Math: Morganton
  2-Elkin
  3-Bishop McGuinness
  4-Mount Airy
  5-East Wilkes
  6-Piedmont Community Charter School
  7-Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy
  8-Highland School of Technology
  9-Gray Stone Day School
10-Eno River Academy
Others Receiving Votes: Chatham Charter School, Triangle Math and Science, Uwharrie Charter School, Voyager Academy, Alleghany, Falls Lake, Cherryville, Mountain Island Charter School.