DOBSON — For Mount Airy’s Matus Kriska, Tuesday’s season opening cross country meet looked just like it was — a walk in the park.

Kriska finished better than a minute ahead of the next best competitor at Fisher River Park, as the defending state champion crossed the line with a time of 16 minutes 55 seconds.

Surry Central’s boys had a fantastic finish, with Jacob Fulk coming in at 18 minutes flat behind Kriska, followed by teammate Raul Lachino.

On the girls’ side, a three-runner contingent from North Stokes, led by Jodie Lemons, took the top three spots, while Mount Airy junior Jordan Hiatt had a solid start with a fourth place finish.

Central fights past East in five

DOBSON — Surry Central volleyball made up for a slow start against East Surry Tuesday with three straight set wins to defeat the Cardinals in five games.

East Surry jumped out early with set wins of 25-16 and 25-23 to put Central just one loss away from defeat.

Central responded however, taking games three and four from East 25-17 each.

The fifth and final set was back and forth from the start but Central prevailed with a 15-12 win.

“We started out not playing together as a team,” Central coach Leah McKinney said. “But the girls found their momentum after the second game and we were able to stay focused to get the win.”

Michaela Wall had 11 kills to lead Central offensively, followed by Jennifer Coe with nine and Samantha Mosley with eight. Alysha Shelton had 24 digs in the win.

Central will next travel to Bishop McGuinness Thursday while East Surry will travel to North Surry.

Mount Airy rolls over South Stokes

Mount Airy had no trouble with visiting South Stokes in tennis action Tuesday, defeating the Sauras, 9-0

The Granite Bears breezed through singles, with No. 6 seed Blair Holcomb receiving the only test of the day against South’s Gina Rutledge.

Holcomb took the first set 6-4, but Rutledge responded with a 6-4 win before Holcomb closed out the tiebreaker 11-9.

The Granite Bears improve to 5-1 on the season and 2-0 in Northwest 1A/2A Conference play. Mount Airy will travel to West Stokes Tuesday.

Mount Airy 9, South Stokes 0

SINGLES

Jordan Jackson (MA) d. Jenna Stevens (SS) 6-0, 6-0; Merry Kessler (MA) d. Kaitlin Sands (SS) 6-2, 6-3; Elizabeth Dinkins (MA) d. Annie-Kate Young (SS) 6-1, 6-1; Jade Hughes (MA) d. Chelsea Evans (SS) 6-0, 6-2; Davi Barbour (MA) d. Rebekah Smith (SS) 6-0, 6-1; Blair Holcomb (MA) d. Gina Rutledge (SS) 6-4, 4-6, 11-9

DOUBLESDinkins-Hughes (MA) d. Stevens-Sands (SS) 8-2; Barbour-Morgan Greenwood (MA) d. Young-Evans (SS) 8-1; Alex Rigney-Samantha Donathan (MA) d. Smith-Tori Everly (SS) 8-1

North sweeps Bishop

After a tough five-set loss to Mount Tabor Monday, the North Surry Greyhounds responded with a three-set sweep of Bishop McGuinness last night.

Bishop gave North a run for its money in the opening set with the Greyhounds squeaking by 27-25. North regained its composure and took care of business with a pair of 25-17 wins to put the Villains down for good.

Morgan Midkiff led the Greyhounds with seven kills and 10 digs on the night, followed by Morgan Bunker with six kills and Nicole Rumplasch with five. Emily Culler added 12 digs while Ellie Atkins had 16 assists and was 10-of-11 in service with one ace. The Greyhounds improve to 5-1 overall and 1-0 in Northwest 1A/2A Conference play and will travel to East Surry Tuesday.

Bears fall in five

After a 25-16 victory in the first set, Mount Airy looked to be continuing its solid play to start the volleyball season.

But two quick losses in sets two and three to visiting South Stokes put the Bears on the ropes and ultimately led to their demise, with the Sauras handing the Bears their second loss of the season in five games.

Mount Airy bounced back from the two set defeats with a 25-21 win to force a fifth set, but with a 6-1 lead in the final frame the Bears wilted and allowed South to pull away with the victory.

“We started out strong the first game and went into the second game and we started to have a little serving trouble and it kind of bit us,” Mount Airy coach Kim Lyons said. “We were losing easy points off of serves and they took advantage of that. In the third game we got our heads down, gave some good effort but just couldn’t pull it out.”

Mount Airy drops to 4-2 overall and to 2-1 in Northwest 1A/2A Conference play. The Bears will travel to West Stokes Thursday.