THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 20, 1996 TAG: 9610180209
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 31 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 61 lines
The combination of Jessica Strickler and Marian Withers on the tennis courts at Hickory High School has produced a lot of wins - and a load of laughs.
``One time we were playing this team that wasn't as strong, and we were up 6-0, 5-0,'' said Withers, the Hawks' No. 2 player and one-half of the undefeated Southeastern District championship duo. ``Then something happened to us and we started hitting everything into the net. We lost a game, and that just broke us up.
``And Jessica, it seems like every time she hits an overhead, it hits (the opponent) at net. She's so little and so cute and she really doesn't mean to do it, but I'll say something like, `You little witch.'
``We laugh a lot out there. We definitely have a good time.''
If Strickler and Withers have their way, the good times will continue Monday, when the eight-team Eastern Region doubles tournament begins at 2:30 p.m. at Virginia Beach's Owl Creek Municipal Tennis Center. The Hickory team will open against Peninsula District runners-up Lizza Gonzales and Kristie Kerr of Menchville.
A victory would probably pit the Hawks against First Colonial's Mily Kannarkat and Becky Schmidt in Tuesday's 2 p.m. semifinals. Kannarkat is shooting for her third straight regional doubles title - with her third different partner.
The final (4 p.m.) will also be held Tuesday.
``Of course we're hoping to come out as No. 1, but there's Cox and First Colonial and they're always tough,'' Withers said. ``We just have to go out and play our games.''
Those games have been good enough to allow the Hawks to prevail in all 14 of their matches this season while logging a 28-1 mark in sets won. The lone setback: a 7-5 defeat in the second set of the district final against Lakeland's Dawn Harrell and Lisa Allmond. The Hawks went on to win six of the last eight games.
``It's all about confidence,'' Withers said. ``If you're out there thinking about a stroke, you're probably going to hit it long or hit it in the net. You need to have confidence in your strokes, confidence in your partner.''
It's a somewhat unlikely alliance - Strickler, the freshman star with the top-10 Mid-Atlantic Tennis Association ranking, and Withers, a senior who excelled for Great Bridge a year ago and spent the summer assuming she'd play No. 1 for the Hawks come fall.
``I didn't know about (Jessica) until the first practice,'' Withers said. ``I knew my No. 1 was gone right there.
Lakeland's Harrell and Allmond, the district's other regional-qualifying doubles team, will play Peninsula champions Scottie Howard and June Blanks from Lafayette in Monday's first round.
District champion Strickler and runner-up Harrell will also be competing in the singles tournament, where the unbeaten Strickler will renew acquaintances with Cox' Kristin Moran in a first-round battle of freshmen. The two are friends and have faced each other often on the junior tournament circuit.
Harrell's first-round task - hand two-time champion Kannarkat her first loss to a region opponent in three years.
The singles tournament schedule: first round, Monday, 8:45 a.m.; semifinals, Monday, 11:30 a.m.; final, Tuesday, 11 a.m.
KEYWORDS: HIGH SCHOOL TENNIS by CNB