DATE: Wednesday, October 15, 1997           TAG: 9710150692

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C7   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   55 lines

DOUBLES MATCH TO DECIDE EASTERN GIRLS QUARTERFINAL TALLWOOD WINS A BIZARRE SINGLES CONTEST THAT GREAT BRIDGE PROTESTS.

Tallwood's ``Cooky'' crumbled, then pulled herself together just in time to keep the Lions alive against Great Bridge in a bizarre Eastern Region girls tennis quarterfinal match that has yet to be decided.

The Lions and Wildcats finished play Tuesday tied at four after Danielle ``Cooky'' Miranda, Tallwood's No. 4 player, overcame legs cramps, the loss of a 5-0 third-set lead and two match points to prevail when Catherine Hanson had to retire in the third-set tiebreaker after suffering an ankle injury.

The deciding second doubles match will be played at 3 p.m. today at Great Bridge. The winning school will face Denbigh in the regional semifinals Thursday at 1:30 p.m. at Owl Creek Municipal Tennis Center in Virginia Beach.

Miranda was two points from winning the match at 5-0 in the third set before collapsing on the court with leg cramps. According to VHSL rules, cramps are considered a loss of conditioning and play must continue. But neither coach was sure of the rule, and, with no VHSL official on hand, Miranda was treated on the court by Tallwood coach David Weiss for several minutes before play resumed.

Miranda won the next point, then fell to the court with cramps again. While Great Bridge coach Andrea Graham drove home to get her rule book, Weiss, believing a rules change allowed for an injury timeout, helped Miranda work out the cramps for several more minutes.

By the time Graham returned with the correct rule interpretation, Hanson had fought off the match point and was in the middle of a six-game run. She then got to 40-15 on Miranda's serve, only to see the Tallwood junior rattle off the next four points and force a tiebreaker.

``I just told myself, `Be a backboard,' '' said Miranda while her father, a doctor, and mother, a former nurse, looked on. ``I just tried to be as steady as I could.''

Miranda led 5-2 in the tiebreak when Hanson, after several spectacular returns, crashed to the court after lunging for an overhead. The Wildcats' senior had to be carried off the court and was taken to a hospital for X-rays for what was later determined to be an ankle fracture.

Graham then protested the outcome, arguing Miranda took unauthorized injury timeouts and should be defaulted retroactively. Regional tournament director Bill Peachy denied the appeal. Graham said she would seek relief from the VHSL this morning.

Should that fail, Kelly Corbin, Great Bridge's No. 8 player, will replace Hanson alongside Beth Hartley against Tallwood's Miranda and doubles specialist Dora Branyan in the deciding match.

Great Bridge won the top three singles matches and No. 1 doubles. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

L. TODD SPENCER

An ankle injured forced Great Bridge's Catherine Hanson, left, to

retire against Tallwood's Danielle ``Cooky'' Miranda, right. But a

protest was lodged.

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