The Albemarle girls tennis team has managed to dispatch district opponents easily so far. In fact, going into Tuesday’s clash with Stafford, the Patriots had not dropped a single match in district play this season and got a convincing win on Thursday where all the whole team saw action in the match.
That changed Tuesday when Albemarle headed east.
While Radford-bound senior Megan Napolitano quickly knocked off a talented Annie Moncure at the No. 1 seed, the visiting Patriots found themselves down in 4 of the 5 other singles matches. Stafford took wins at No. 3 and No. 6 to gain the upper hand 2-1.
The Patriots got late breaks of serve to hold on at No. 2, No. 4 and No. 5 in three tight matches. Those wins by seniors Elise Lord, Ivy Haines and Maddie McCullough meant that Albemarle had the upper hand 4-2 heading to doubles play. Napolitano tested a shoulder she injured in singles toughed it out. Albemarle’s aggressive doubles style paid off and the Patriots swept the Indians to close the match 7-2. Albemarle, which has not dropped a team district match in more than five years, will face another test on Thursday when they host Colonial Forge.
“They played us tough tonight and I credit them,” said Albemarle coach Rich Lindsay in an email. “We are banged up a bit and with exams this week and our two-hour bus trips, it wears on these kids. But that’s no excuse and Stafford was smacking us around out there. If some of our girls hadn’t stepped up in singles we could have let one get away.”
Albemarle 7, Stafford 2
Singles
1. Napolitano(A) d. Moncure 10-4
2. Lord(A) d. Gayle 10-6
3. Colopy(S) d. Henry 10-7
4 .Haines(A) d. Bailey 10-8
5. McCullough(A) d. Feng 10-7
6. Bomhke(S) d. Caton 10-2
Doubles
1. Napolitano/Lord d. Moncure/Gayle 10-3
2. Haines/Caton(A) d. Colopy/Bomhke 10-8
3. Henry/McCullough(A) d. Bailey/Feng 10-2
