Maury and Jamestown girls, First Colonial and Bruton boys fall in VHSL team tennis finals
After her team lost a clash of reigning VHSL state champions Thursday, Jamestown girls tennis coach Karen Johnson exuded pride in her Eagles.
“We played well. There’s only so much we could do,” she said after Western Albemarle shut out Jamestown 5-0 for the Class 4 championship at Huntington Park.
The Maury girls and First Colonial boys, both of whom were appearing in the first team tennis finals in program history, could say much the same as they faced powerful Richmond-area defending champions.
Maury, which lost 5-2 to Douglas Freeman in Class 5, gave the Mavericks a few worries because of routine victories by the Commodores’ top two players, senior Mya Byrd and junior Addison Felts. But Freeman, which ruled its region via exceptional depth, won in straight sets at the lower four singles positions and repeated as the champion with a 6-1, 6-1 triumph at No. 3 doubles.
First Colonial’s boys were overmatched by Deep Run, which has one of the best lineups in the storied history of western Henrico County. The Wildcats won 6-0, 6-0 at Nos. 4, 5 and 6, Zack Fleishman outplayed Grahame Brown in a duel of national-caliber competitors at No. 1, and Christopher Newport-bound left-hander Aden Bashir gained the clinching fifth point for Deep Run’s Class 5 repeat with a 6-0 second set at No. 3.
Patriots coach John Devoles still was smiling afterward, though.
“It’s been a blast for us,” he said. “FC, we’ve never been to the final. It’s a pretty big deal. I’m so proud of them. They worked so heard and beat Princess Anne, a great team. Deep Run, they’re another level. To mess with that dynasty, the moons have to be aligned.”
Western Albemarle, from the Charlottesville area, was promoted from Class 3 to 4 for this school year, which was bad luck for Jamestown. The Warriors, whose seniors took three state titles — they couldn’t do so in 2020 because of the pandemic — won all but the No. 2 singles match in straight sets against the defending Class 4 champion Eagles.
Among Jamestown’s players, Lauren Elliott fared best. She won the first set and rallied from 4-1 behind in the second for a 6-5 lead, but Western No. 1 player Austin Winslow defeated Julia Clark 6-1, 6-3 to end the match.
Class 5 and 4 doubles
Thursday afternoon’s individual doubles semifinals brought better news for Hampton Roads, including a guaranteed girls Class 5 champion for the 757.
Byrd and Felts rolled past Riverside’s Maddie Tran and Lexie Linderman 6-1, 6-0 to advance to Friday’s 1 p.m. final at Huntington Park. They’ll take on first-time state participants Alex Sanda and Melissa Young of First Colonial, who advanced via walkover because of illness to J.R. Tucker’s Region C champions.
Felts and Byrd lost in last year’s semis, but “we’ve gotten so much better,” Felts said. “We’re pretty confident.”
In boys Class 5, FC’s Brown and Josh Johnson dropped a 6-4, 6-2 semifinal to Freeman’s Dylan Chou and Daniel Lim, and Maury’s Alex Seretis and Patrick Stiles lost 6-2, 7-5 to Riverbend’s Jack Wexler and Chase Catullo.
In boys Class 4, Grafton’s Rainer Christiansen and John Cloud took a 4-1 second-set lead but fell 6-3, 6-4 to Lightridge’s Sid Dabhade and Thanus Buneti.
Classes 3 and 2
Bruton’s boys, playing in their first state team final, won a pair of singles matches but lost 5-2 to John Battle of Bristol for the Class 2 title on Virginia Tech’s courts.
In Class 3 doubles, Tabb’s Christina Baxter and Valentina Crespo-Berker won 6-4, 6-3 against a Liberty Christian pair to reach the girls final at 9 a.m. Friday. The Tabb boys’ Zach Beckner and Nicolas Crespo-Berker lost 6-2, 6-0 to Wilson Memorial’s Chase Pullin and Conner Miller.
Singles preview
All of the semifinals at Huntington Park will begin at 10 a.m. Friday, with the finals set for Saturday morning. Among the boys competitors at Huntington Park: Ocean Lakes’ Vincent Yi in Class 6, Brown and Seretis in Class 5 and Christiansen in Class 4.
Girls in the brackets at Huntington Park include Sanda and Byrd, who seeks her third consecutive singles title without a loss, in Class 5 and Elliott in Class 4; and Baxter in Class 3 at Virginia Tech.
At Virginia Tech, Beckner, Baxter and Poquoson’s Luke Gibson will be in Class 3 and 2 action, respectively, at noon Friday.
TEAM FINALS
Boys
(at Huntington Park)
Class 6: Oakton 5, Cosby 0
Class 5: Deep Run 5, First Colonial 0
Class 4: Western Albemarle 5, Hanover 0
(at Virginia Tech)
Class 3: Maggie Walker 5, Wilson Memorial 2
Class 2: John Battle 5, Bruton 2
Girls
(at Huntington Park)
Class 6: Langley 5, Cosby 1
Class 5: Douglas Freeman 5, Maury 2
Class 4: Western Albemarle 5, Jamestown 0
(at Virginia Tech)
Class 3: Maggie Walker 5, Spotswood 0
Class 2: Glenvar 5, Woodstock Central 0
Class 1: Auburn d. Rappahannock
DOUBLES SEMIFINALS
(at Huntington Park)
Boys
Class 6: Vincent Truong-Ansh Pathapadu (W.T. Woodson) d. Andrew Kim-Nick Owen (James River) 6-1, 6-2.
Class 5: Jack Wexler-Chase Catullo (Riverbend) d. Alex Seretis-Patrick Stiles (Maury) 6-2, 7-5; Dylan Chou-Daniel Lim (Douglas Freeman) d. Grahame Brown-Josh Johnson (First Colonial) 6-4, 6-2.
Class 4: Tobin Yates-Brader Eby (Western Albemarle) d. Jacob Pfab-Jamison Wallace (Powhatan) 6-1, 6-4; Sid Dabhade-Thanus Buneti (Lightridge) d. Rainer Christiansen-John Cloud (Grafton) 6-3, 6-4.
(at Virginia Tech)
Class 3: Chase Pullin-Conner Miller (Wilson Memorial) d. Zach Beckner - Nicolas Crespo-Berker (Tabb) 6-2, 6-0.
Girls
(at Huntington Park)
Class 6: Vanessa Popescu-Michelle Martinkov (McLean) d. Maya Bravo-Iben Bravo (Patriot) 6-1, 6-2.
Class 5: Mya Byrd-Addison Felts (Maury) d. Maddie Tran-Lexie Linderman (Riverside) 6-1, 6-0; Alex Sanda-Melissa Young (First Colonial) d. Kyla Terrell-Esha Kidambi (J.R. Tucker) by walkover/illness.
Class 4: Kirsten Woods-Raya Freeborn (Blacksburg) d. Elizabeth Hughes-Kelly Decker (Atlee) 6-0, 6-1.
Class 3: Christina Baxter - Valentina Crespo-Berker (Tabb) d. Catherine Mowry - Carla Fernandez-Fournier (Liberty Christian) 6-4, 6-3;
