THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, May 18, 1996 TAG: 9605180440
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Short : 43 lines
Tallwood's boys tennis team became the 4-year-old school's first to qualify for a state tournament Friday by knocking off Lafayette 8-1 in the Eastern Region semifinals Friday at Owl Creek Municipal Tennis Center.
Meanwhile, Cox made it an all-Beach District final by topping Great Bridge 8-1.
The district champion Falcons (10-0) and runner-up Lions (11-3) will advance to the Group AAA state tournament beginning May 28 against Central Region opponents.
The Eastern Region final will be played Monday at 1 p.m. at Owl Creek. Cox's last regional title came in 1992; Tallwood will be competing in its first final.
Although Tallwood (11-3) clinched against the Peninsula District champion Rams (11-2) by taking five of the six singles, No. 1 Ramel Bautista, No. 3 Marvin Sagun and No. 6 Ed Amados were all extended to three sets. But long matches play into a Tallwood strength - the Lions are 19-6 in three-set matches this year.
``To be honest, some of those matches shouldn't have gone three sets,'' Bautista said. ``But I think it shows this team is mentally strong.''
Tallwood No. 6 Joe Neely, a freshman, won in straight sets to remain unbeaten in team matches (14-0).
With the victory, the Lions exorcised memories of the 1995 regional semifinal, when Tallwood's No. 2 doubles team blew a 5-2 third-set lead in a 5-4 loss to Maury.
Cox's top three players, Ryan Davidson, Nathan Shanks and Bobby Kalantar, combined to surrender only seven games against the Southeastern District champion Wildcats. Latane Meade (No. 4) and Ted Yeschin (No. 5) also won for Cox as the top five Falcons remained unbeaten in team singles matches.
``We're playing with a lot of confidence, but that's important,'' Yeschin said. ``If you go out there thinking you're gonna lose, you're gonna lose.''
Cox whipped Tallwood 8-1 during the regular season. by CNB