THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 2, 1994 TAG: 9409010229
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 21 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY GARY EDWARDS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
IN TENNIS as in real life - history often repeats itself.
In 1965, a freshman named Chris Ward from E.C. Glass High School in Lynchburg won the state high school boys singles tennis championship.
In 1994, a freshman named Jennie Ward from Mills Godwin High School in Richmond won the state high school girls singles championship. In a fitting historical twist, Ward defeated a player from . . . yep - E.C. Glass.
Like father, like daughter.
On Aug. 12, the younger Ward added two more tennis titles to her rapidly growing collection. Jennie Ward defeated Lisa Pruett of Alexandria, 7-6, 6-3, in winning the girls 16-and-under title at the Virginia State Junior Tennis Championships.
The blond baseliner was seeded No. 1 going in and did not disappoint.
``I look for opportunities to come to the net, but mostly I stay back and play from the baseline,'' Ward said.
Ward and the other junior champs were crowned during match-play at the Princess Anne Country Club and the Owls Creek Tennis Center Aug. 9-13.
The girls and boys 16-and-under were held at Princess Anne; the boys and girls 18-and-under and 14-and-under at Owls Creek. Both boys and girls played a best-of-three-sets format.
Ward and her doubles partner, Becky Gunn of Richmond, captured the girls 16s doubles championship, 7-5, 3-6, 6-2, over Pruett and Anne Jenkins.
Peter Stein of Brightwood won the boys 16s singles title in a grueling three-setter against Joey Hopke, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. Stein, seeded fourth, used his serve and volley game to wear down the second-seeded Hopke.
``My serve was on this week,'' said Stein, 16, who will enter the Vandermeer Tennis Academy in Hilton Head, S.C., next month.
He's a nine-year tournament veteran (no, that's not a typo. Stein began playing in tournaments at the ripe old age of 7). He will be a junior at Hilton Head High School.
Like Ward, Stein was a double-winner too. Make that a doubles winner. He teamed with Norfolk Academy's Brian Duquette to take that title from Hopke and Jay Bruner, 7-5, 2-6, 6-4.
At Owls Creek, Kim Sparrow cruised to the boys 18s title with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Josh Levin.
The 17-year-old rising senior at the Thomas Jefferson High School of Science and Technology in Alexandria won five matches during the four-day event.
He, too, is tournament tested.
``I've played in tournaments for eight years,'' said Sparrow, whose strength is his play from the baseline.
Michelle Grover of Suffolk, not yet 13, won the girls 14s championship by defeating Christin Lanio, 7-5, 7-5. The final was an upset of sorts. Lanio was the top seed in the tournament. Glover was seeded third.
The girls 18s doubles championship went to the Kellys, Kelly Smith and Kelly Gallagher, who defeated Lindsay Whythe and Jenny Daughtery, 6-3, 6-2. Both teams are from Richmond.
Jonathan Chou of Newport News scored a straight-sets win over Grant Semon, 6-4, 6-2, in claiming the boys 14s singles championship.
Semon did win the doubles title. He and partner Chris Snow defeated Jete O'Keefe and Rhys James, 3-6, 7-6, 6-1.
Sparrow teamed with Fritz Allhoff to win the boys 18s doubles by defeating Drew Elder and Christian Brower, 6-0, 6-1.
Connie Bolling served as tournament director at the Owls Creek matches. Mike Miller, head tennis pro at Princess Anne Country, hosted the event at that location. ILLUSTRATION: Photos by PETER D. SUNDBERG
Kim Sparrow, 17, rising senior at Thomas Jefferson High School of
Science and Technology in Alexandria, won the 18-and-under singles
and doubles.
Josh Levin, 17, was Kim Sparrow's fifth victim in the four-day state
junior event, bowing 6-2, 6-0 in the 18-and-under singles final.
by CNB