THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 28, 1996 TAG: 9603260162
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 26 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 43 lines
This is the only rule one needs to follow when forecasting the 1996 Eastern District boys tennis season:
When in doubt, lean toward the team that has gone 111-1 against league opponents since 1982.
Maury has enjoyed an almost unchallenged 14-year reign of dominance and, with three starters returning from last year's surprise Eastern Region championship team, will enter yet another season with no legitimate Norfolk contender in its path.
In fairness to the other district teams, the Commodores, who have won three straight regional titles and 43 straight matches against regional opponents, would be a power in any league. But they're virtually guaranteed to have their way in the Eastern, where the rest of the teams simply haven't been able to field players who compete at a level anywhere near that of Maury.
Paul Barrera (Lake Taylor), Stephen Caja (Granby), Leon Walts (Norview) and William Johnson (Booker T. Washington) are titled tennis coaches, but they'll be serving more as tennis teachers, men charged with instilling fundamentals and a passion for the sport to relative novices. Success for these teams can best be measured not in wins and losses but in how many players get fired up enough about tennis to continue hitting balls when the season ends.
Elsewhere in the area, Cox is loaded this season and looms as the favorite in both the Beach District and the region. Great Bridge, Western Branch and Churchland will battle for supremacy in the Southeastern District, while Lafayette should continue leading the way in the Peninsula.
[The rest of this story is not available electronically. For complete text, please see microfilm.] ILLUSTRATION: Photo by D. KEVIN ELLIOTT
Maury's Ross Hoffman plays Saturday in the Big Chief Classic.
by CNB