THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 1, 1995 TAG: 9511010596
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
Mills Godwin took two of the three tense three-set doubles matches and nipped First Colonial 5-4 in the Group AAA state tennis quarterfinals Tuesday at First Colonial.
The Patriots (12-2) lost to Mills Godwin for the second time this season. In the previous meeting, the Central Region runner-up Eagles (14-2) also won 5-4 by pulling out a three-setter at third doubles.
This time, the second doubles teams fought out the clincher. With the match tied at four, scramblers Becky Lord and Lea Cho wore down Laura Bridges and Katy Walters 7-6, 6-7, 6-2 to move Mills Godwin into Friday's state semifinals against Langley, a 5-4 winner Tuesday over E.C. Glass.
The deciding match was a classic duel of puncher versus counterpuncher, with Bridges and Walters attacking the net and Lord and Cho relentlessly tracking down ball after ball. In the end, patience won out.
``We played junk tennis, but it worked,'' Lord said.
The match wasn't really as close as the final score. Bridges and Walters led 5-0 in the second set before the Mills Godwin pair took 12 of the final 15 games (not including the tiebreaker).
Bridges and Walters, who beat Lord and Cho in three sets during the regular season, hurt their cause Tuesday by setting up several feet away from the net, reducing their angle on volleys and giving their opponents an extra split second to retrieve.
Lord and Cho also felt fatigue played a role, particularly for Bridges, who also had a tough three-set singles match.
``We could tell she was tired,'' Lord said. ``In the third set, we tried to hit a lot of balls to her.''
Walters (No. 3), Mily Kannarkat (No. 1) and Araceli Merchanti (No. 6) scored singles victories for First Colonial, but the Patriots lost a chance for a 4-2 lead heading into doubles play when Mills Godwin No. 2 Kelly Smith rallied from 4-1 down in the third set against Bridges for a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory.
The Eagles moved ahead 4-3 when Monica Vong and Nikki Seeds took out Holly Cooper and Merchanti 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 at third doubles. But the Eastern Region champion Patriots leveled things at four at No. 1 doubles courtesy of the brilliant Kannarkat and an inspired performance by partner Anne Crenshaw.
Unable to get anything past defending state singles champion Kannarkat, Mills Godwin's Smith and Jennie Ward force-fed virtually every ball at Crenshaw, the Patriots' No. 5 player. The tactic worked the second set, but Crenshaw steadied herself and turned in a solid, virtually error-free deciding set as the Patriots' duo prevailed 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by BILL TIERNAN/The Virginian-Pilot
First Colonial's Mily Kannarkat hits a return to Jennie Ward of
Richmond's Mills Godwin High during the Group AAA state
quarterfinals.
by CNB