Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 4, 1993 TAG: 9306040085
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WISE LENGTH: Medium
"Where's a pen?" senior Eric Starkloff said Thursday afternoon. "I want to update my shirt."
Starkloff and the rest of the Highlanders needed to add this year to their high school championship shirts.
Glenvar won its second consecutive crown Thursday, downing old nemesis and previously unbeaten George Mason 6-3 at Clinch Valley College.
But the Highlanders weren't done repeating. Sophomore Nick Varney successfully defended his singles title. Then, Varney and Starkloff teamed to take home the doubles crown for the second consecutive year.
Glenvar (13-2) won the team title - and its 13th consecutive match - by prevailing in all three doubles matchups. The Highlanders and George Mason (13-1) had split the six singles matches.
Varney and Starkloff clinched the championship when they swept a tie-breaker from Nate Martin and Peter Oh to complete a 6-4, 7-6 (7-0) victory.
"That was a gut match," Starkloff said.
Added Varney: "That could have gone either way easily - too easily."
Aaron Johnson and Curtis Hite put Glenvar in position to win the title with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Chris Yates and Eric Ignacio at No. 3 doubles.
"I thought at 3-3 it was 50-50," said George Mason coach Alan Krueger. "When you look at it, they would have the advantage at No. 1 [doubles] and we would have the edge at No. 2. No. 3 was up for grabs. All those matches could have gone either way. They were all close."
Glenvar's No. 2 doubles team of Wes Jones and Ritchie Bryant closed the match with a 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 victory over Gavin Hecker and Carlos Hernandez. The third set of that match was just starting when the Highlanders cliched the state title.
In the singles championship, Varney (17-2) looked like two different players as he stopped Clarke County freshman Patrick Bartlett 7-6 (7-4), 6-1.
"It was weird, very weird," said Varney, who ended the season with a 17-match winning streak. "When it started, my backhand wasn't there. As the match went on, it improved, little by little. So by the tie-breaker, it was kind of back."
In doubles, Varney and Starkloff (16-2) came back several times to down Clarke County's Bartlett and Josh Kerr-Hobert 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.
\ see microfilm for box score
by CNB