Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 3, 1993 TAG: 9306030256
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Salem's tennis team will try for the third time in four years today to win a Group AA boys' state tennis championship. The Spartans earned the right to play Bruton for the crown after beating Blacksburg 5-4 Wednesday and reversing a regular-season loss to the Indians by the same score.
Bruton edged Loudon County by the same score, but had an easier time since it clinched the match after winning five of the six singles.
Salem survived Blacksburg because veteran coach Dave Petersen lines up his doubles with his best singles' player, Eddel Veloso teaming with No. 6 Jon Valera. It turned out that these two beat the Indians' Mike Pfeil and Justin Turner 6-1, 7-5 in the No. 2 doubles to nail down Salem's victory.
"It tends to be the strategy at Salem to even out the doubles," said Blacksburg coach Carter Turner, who played for the Spartans under Petersen. "Most definitely I learned from him. It's good strategy and if I coach again, I'll put it in my own program."
It will be a most interesting day for Blacksburg even if the Indians aren't in the team finals. Blacksburg's Marek Pfeil stopped Bruton's Tyler Lubbers 6-4, 6-2 to earn a shot for the singles state championship against defending champion Brandon Davis of Harrisonburg, who beat Brookville's Fabio Pinto 6-1, 6-3.
Meanwhile, Veloso and David Arnold, who form another doubles team for individual play, will go after a state championship against Marek Pfeil and Robert Gibb. Veloso and Arnold beat Loudon County's Jethro Marks and Brian Douglas 6-4, 6-3 while.
Marek Pfeil and Gibb teamed to knock off Bruton's Lubbers and Chris Whipple 6-3, 6-2.
Veloso and Valera won the first set easily 6-1 and had a 4-0 lead in the second set when they nearly blew it. The first two doubles had ended, and, suddenly, all the attention focused on the one remaining quartet of players on the court.
"That's when I started playing badly, the pressure started getting to me," Veloso said. "But I'm a senior and we [he and Valera] just had to do it for our team."
Salem should have been used to pressure since the three doubles teams all won to pull out a come-from-behind 5-4 victory over Brookville in the Region III finals. It got down to match point and it took the Spartans' duo four tries before Mike Pfeil's shot sailed wide to give Salem the finals' berth.
It might not have come down to the final doubles match had Blacksburg's Jeff Varner not outlasted Valera 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 in the last singles match to be completed.
Neither player could hold service until Varner started easing up on his shots to finally put Valera away leaving the teams deadlocked 3-3 going into the doubles.
Today's team match starts at 9 a.m. at Salem High. The singles title will be held at 1 p.m., with the doubles championship match to follow.
by CNB