​Oct. 21—Pisgah girls tennis has danced its way all the way into the third round of the state playoffs with back-to-back wins.No. 9-seeded Pisgah opened up the playoffs with a 9-0 thumping of No. 24 Lincoln Charter in the first round on their home court in Canton.The Bears went on the road in the second round, however, taking on No. 8 Ashe County.Each game consists of six singles matches decided by the best of three sets and three doubles matches with just one set each. The overall winner is based on the best out of the nine matches — so while each match is its own contest at the net, they add up to the team’s win or loss.Pisgah was on a winning streak during the singles matches in the playoff game against Ashe County”We jumped out pretty quick. We went up 4-1, and looked pretty good,” Pisgah Coach Harold Shepard said.The Bears dropped the No. 1 singles spot, but quickly rebounded with four quick singles wins.Senior Holly Henderson won at the No. 2 spot, junior Aspen Herron won at No. 3, junior Emma Hensen won at No. 4 and junior Mikayla Heatherly won at No. 6.The Bears needed just one more point to clinch victory, and senior Rosie Burgess gave it her all to lock up the win before the doubles matches — battling through a grueling three-hour match.The Ashe County player took the first set with a 7-5 win. Burgess came fighting back, taking the second set 6-2 to force a deciding third set.”I honestly thought that Rosie was going to win hers,” Shepard said.Between the sets, Shepard elected to have the players take a break to give his senior a chance to catch her breath after a marathon of a contest.But Shepard said Burgess lost her momentum following the rest, dropping the third set 6-2 after more than three hours of battling back and forth.”It’s a long time to be on your feet,” Shepard said. “We all try to make sure there are kids taken care of, and I was trying to look out for her.”Next came the doubles matches. Pisgah only needed to win one of the three doubles matches to take the day’s win and advance in playoffs. Henderson and sophomore Madison Borgress claimed clinched the win at the No. 1 spot.But Herron and Hensen provided the most exciting match-up between the pairings in the No. 2 spot. The two went down 4-1 early, but charged back as the match progressed.”Next thing I know, I looked up, and they had won 9-7. They pulled it out,” Shepard said.The Bears don’t have a dominant No. 1 like in years past, but Pisgah does have a strong lineup from top to bottom.”It’s athleticism and depth that is carrying the day,” Shepard said. “I think it makes us tough. They fight, and they don’t give up easy. That’s a big deal.”The No. 9-seeded Bears keep marching on at the state tournament with a third-round trip on Wednesday to face the top-seeded Salisbury Hornets. The winners of that match will face No. 4 Brevard, who beat Pisgah 6-3 in each of their regular season meetings.