Nearly all the variables were different.
Earlier in the season, Spotswood and Western Albemarle played, but they didn’t play three championship-style sets. They didn’t play in the relentless sun at Virginia Tech’s tennis center. And they didn’t play with a state final berth on the line.
Still, the results were the same, a 5-4 final. This time though it swung toward Spotswood instead of the Warriors who won the regular season meeting. That made for an interesting Friday evening and, in turn, Saturday morning for the Spotswood squad.
“My girls played under pressure because everyone’s leaving to head back to graduation right now and now they have to get up at 4 a.m. to come back here,” said Spotswood coach Linda Failes. “It’s just made it an interesting weekend but the girls wouldn’t have it any other way.”
The Blazers closed out the drawn out match with a narrow victory over the Warriors in a three-set battle at No. 1 doubles. With the match tied 3-3 after singles, Western won at No. 2 doubles while Spotswood won a tiebreaker in the second set of No. 3 doubles to even the match again at 4-4. That drew all the spectators and players to the No. 1 court.
That’s where Spotswood’s Delaney Westwood and Elizabeth Hunter came up with a win against Emily Kochard and Cari Bland, but they had to fight tooth and nail for it, winning the first set 7-6 and losing the second set 4-6 before the third began.
“They played some of their best tennis all year,” Failes said. “They’re a great doubles team but they were playing a great doubles team. They just gutted it out and hit some great shots when they needed to.”
The loss ended one of the deepest postseason runs in Western’s girls program’s history that very nearly turned into a state title game appearance. The decisive No. 1 doubles match see-sawed back and forth and could have easily broken Western’s way.
“We didn’t play our best tie-breaker in the first set, but we came back in the second set to win that,” said Western coach Ellen Markowitz. “And the third set started well but just couldn’t close the door and then it slipped away.”
Western wraps an incredible season with young players studding the lineup including a sophomore, Kochard, at the top spot. Kochard rolled 6-1, 6-2 in her singles match. Megan Wright and Claire Park also got victories during singles while Fran Clifton and Park combined for the doubles win at No.2.
“They played their hearts out and that’s all we can ask,” Markowitz said. “They gave everything they had and tried to play their best tennis and leave it out on the court. So I’m really proud of them.”
Spotswood 5, Western Albemarle 4
1. Emily Kochard (WAHS) def. Delaney Westwood (SHS), 6-1, 6-2
2. Elizabeth Hunter (SHS) def. Cari Bland (WAHS), 6-3, 6-4
3. Megan Wright (WAHS) def. Ashley Lenhart (SHS), 7-6 (6), 6-1
4. Claire Park (WAHS) def. Abigail Hunter (SHS), 7-5, 6-2
5. Brianna De la Garza (SHS) def. Fran Clifton (WAHS), 6-0, 7-6 (6)
6. Coral Dean (SHS) def. Hannah Laub (WAHS), 7-5, 6-2
Doubles
1. Westwood & Hunter E. (SHS) def. Kochard & Bland, 7-6, 4-6, 6-4
2. Clifton & Park (WAHS) def. Lenhart & Hunter A. (SHS), 7-5, 6-3
3. De la Garza & Dean (SHS) def. Wright & Sadie Gupton (WAHS), 6-4, 7-6 (4)
