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Perfect Campaign

Western Albemarle’s Maggie Roesch knew she could outlast York’s Courtney Jenkins if she couldn’t overpower her. So she settled in for the long game at No. 5 singles.

“I thought her game was very fast and she had a lot of winners so that was hard to deal with,” Roesch said. “She eventually started making more and more mistakes I think me keeping my cool definitely helped break her down a little more.”

It worked perfectly as Roesch bounced back from a 6-2 first set loss to win 7-6 (including a 10-0 tiebreaker and 6-0 in the final set. Just like that, the senior put Western Albemarle on the cusp of winning the school’s first girls state tennis title.

Then Stephanie Barton took care of business at No. 4 singles and that was it. Western defeated York 5-1 to claim the Group 3A state tennis title.

“Each year we’ve progressed and we really wanted to win this year and it’s so incredible that we did,” said Western senior Emily Kochard.

Kochard came up huge at No. 1 singles, rolling in her opening set 6-2 and then gritting through a 6-4 second set.

“I just wanted to come out strong and be patient with all my points,” Kochard said. “In the second set I was kind of struggling a little bit and rushing so I just tried to stay composed.”

Shortly after Kochard wrapped up her win, sophomore Maddy Ix proved her usual steady self with a 6-3, 6-1 victory. Lauren Kearns fell at No. 3 singles against a challenging York opponent in Kristin Dantzler and with three complete, Western was up 2-1. No. 6 Savannah Diamond then kicked things into overdrive with a 6-0 victory in the second set that followed a 6-3 win in the opening set, assuring Western of, at worst, a split going into doubles.

That left it up to Roesch and Barton. Roesch, who couldn’t stop smiling after her match, completed an incredible senior season and what was actually her first stretch as a full-time member of the Western lineup.

“I was just thrilled in the third set, even when I was up 2-0 I knew,” Roesch said. “I was like ‘this is it.’ I knew.”

Roesch’s efforts helped motivate and focus Barton as all eyes turned to her at No. 4 singles in the midst of a tough second set that followed a tie-breaker in the first set.

“This was my third year and every year we’ve been close — last year (a loss in the state final) was a big disappointment,” Barton said. “So I felt the pressure to redeem myself. I took a lot of deep breaths.”

After giving up a handful of match points, she locked in and closed out the match and the championship for the Warriors.

“I trusted my shots really and I kept telling myself ‘just get it in’,” Barton said.

Barton did enough of that to get the victory, sealing the title for the history-making Warriors. Western completes a 24-0 run through their 2014 slate with the victory.

Western 5, York 1

Singles

1. Emily Kochard def. Teresa Alvarez, 6-2, 6-4

2. Maddy Ix def. Gaby Tersigni, 6-3, 6-1

3. Kristin Dantzler (Y) def. Lauren Kearns, 6-0, 6-2

4. Stephanie Barton def. Ashley Gailey, 7-6 (4), 7-5

5. Maggie Roesch def. Courtney Jenkins, 2-6, 7-6 (0), 6-0

6. Savannah Diamond def. Casey Jutras 6-3, 6-0

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