THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 16, 1994 TAG: 9410140252
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 23 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Sports
SOURCE: BY JULIE GOODRICH, CLIPPER SPORTS EDITOR
LENGTH: Medium: 99 lines
When Justyna Petsch arrived in Portsmouth for her yearlong tour as a foreign exchange student, the only thing on her mind was soaking up American culture.
It wasn't until she enrolled in Phyllis Presto's international relations class that Pestch realized Churchland High School had a girls' tennis team. Although the Truckers' starting six were already chosen, as an exchange student Petsch could be granted an exception if she wanted to attempt to play on to the team.
On a whim, she decided to give it a shot.
She beat every player on the team.
``Nobody even got a game off her,'' said Presto, the Churchland coach.
Had Presto known the background of her new star tennis player, she wouldn't have been surprised at Petsch's auspicious start.
At one time, Petsch was ranked eighth in Poland, her native country.
``I actually heard it from an English teacher at school - `Way to go, Presto. You've got the No. 8 player from Poland,' '' she said.
Actually, Petsch is no longer a top-rated player in Poland, having given up tennis two years before her trek to Virginia. She may have been a little rusty when she got here, but she found her game quickly and compiled a 5-1 record with selection to the All-Southeastern District team.
``There were lots of reasons I stopped playing,'' said Petsch, a senior. ``I had to pass my exams for high school, and I really didn't have time for tennis.''
After becoming the Truckers' No. 1 singles player, Petsch had an easy first match before facing Great Bridge's Sara Guthrie, the defending district champion. The first set was close, 7-5 to Guthrie, but after that Petsch got down on herself mentally and easily lost the final set, 6-1.
She didn't drop another set for the rest of the regular season.
``I learned a lot from losing to Sara,'' Petsch said. ``I was overconfident more.''
During the regular season Petsch was hardly challenged. Presto says that if she has any weakness, it's her tendency to come into matches mentally unprepared.
``She could go all the way to state if she gets her head together,'' Presto said. ``When she messes up, her reaction is `I'll hit the next one harder,' which makes her overplay her game.
``The trick is to keep her under control.''
Petsch competed last week as the second seed in the district tournament, and advanced to the semifinals where she faced Great Bridge's Carey Stafford. Until the semis, Petsch had scored two straight-set wins, taking three sets at love while surrendering a single game to Deep Creek's Nina Hohenstein in the quarterfinals.
Against third-seeded Stafford, Petsch easily took the first set, 6-1, then dropped the second set 7-5. Stafford won a tiebreaker 7-5 in the third set to advance to the regionals.
Petsch has settled in well with her host family, and she's enjoying her time at Churchland. Although she may have been a bit cocky at the start of the season, it's only because Petsch has great self-esteem, a tribute to her upbringing in Poland.
``She's extremely polite,'' said Presto. ``There's none of that European temperament with the racket throwing. She's a lady on the court and always keeps her composure.
``Besides, if she says anything, it's in Polish. We don't have a clue what it really means.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos
Antoinette Debrough
Senior, Wilson
Karin DeFreitas
Senior, Deep Creek
Sara Guthrie
Senior, Great Bridge
Kelly Hughes
Senior, Churchland
Justyna Petsch
Senior, Churchland
Megan Romash
Senior, Great Bridge
Chrissie Taylor
Senior, W. Branch
Mary Beth Tinkhan
Junior, W. Branch
Carey Stafford
Senior, Great Bridge
by CNB