Cox, Bruton boys advance to state finals, as do Princess Anne, Jamestown and Poquoson girls – The Virginian-Pilot

NORFOLK — It had been four years since Cox reached a state team championship match in boys tennis, but the Falcons remedied that Monday morning with a 5-1 Class 5 semifinal victory over Maury at Old Dominion’s Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center.

With new players following in the footsteps of those who earned state Class 6 runner-up honors in 2018 and ’19, the Falcons won their fifth consecutive match this postseason.

No. 6 Matt Baan and No. 5 Luca Gandolfo won their matches before No. 4 Alex Ortiz and No. 1 Neil Vanga escaped competitive second sets to put Cox on the verge of advancing.

Sam Dixon then won 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) at No. 3 to defeat Manolo Angeles and clinch the victory while a pair of doubles matches were just getting underway. Freshman No. 2 John Felts scored the Commodores’ only team point with a 6-1, 6-3 triumph against James Lonergan.

Cox will go to Huntington Park in Newport News for the title match at 11 a.m. Thursday and will be the underdog against Deep Run.

Class 2

Bruton 5, Riverheads 1: The Panthers gained their second consecutive trip to the state final, defeating the Gladiators on Mary Baldwin’s courts in Staunton.

Glenvar, located near Roanoke in Salem, emerged from the other half of the bracket and will face Bruton for the trophy at 8:30 a.m. Thursday at Virginia Tech. Defending champion John Battle of Bristol fell 5-4 in a quarterfinal to Floyd County, which Glenvar defeated 5-2 Monday.

Anson Li got Bruton on the board first with surgical execution and creative shotmaking, coach James Barr said.  Nick Felsman, Leon Strain and Max de Winter all closed tight matches by shortening points and finishing at the net.

No. 1 player Simphiwe Matibini clinched the final point with a gutsy rally.  Down 1-4 in the second set, he battled back to force a tiebreaker and claim his second match point.

Class 4

Hanover 5, Grafton 4: The host Hawks won a match tiebreak at No. 3 doubles to edge the Clippers, giving Hanover its third trip to the final in the last four years.

Grafton, seeking its first spot in the team final, got singles victories from No. 1 Rainer Christiansen, No. 2 John Cloud and No. 6 Noah Mitchell to forge a 3-3 tie entering doubles. Christiansen and Cloud, the Region A doubles champs, won their match, but Hanover won highly competitive clashes at the other two spots.

That gave the Hawks a title-match rematch against defending champion Western Albemarle at 9 a.m. Thursday at Huntington Park.

Class 3

Maggie Walker 5, Tabb 3: The Tigers gave Maggie Walker one of its toughest matches in recent years, but the Dragons won a semifinal at Battery Park in Richmond. Maggie Walker will go to Virginia Tech for Thursday’s 10:30 a.m. final against Monticello.

Tabb managed a 3-3 singles split with match-tiebreak triumphs by Nicolas Crespo and Matthew Wornom on lines 1 and 2, plus a 6-1, 6-1 victory by Zain Moussa at 6.

In doubles, Maggie Walker registered 6-3, 6-1 and 6-4, 6-0 victories on lines 2 and 3, respectively.

Girls

Class 5

Princess Anne 5, Cox 0: The Cavaliers reached a state girls tennis title match for the first time, winning at home over a Falcons team they defeated for the third time this year.

PA’s Nos. 3-6 players — Ysabel Wells, Laine Kwong, Sophia Koch and Rino Sato — haven’t lost in team competition all season. They’ll face their hardest test at 11 a.m. Thursday when they face two-time defending champion Douglas Freeman of Richmond for the title at Huntington Park.

Class 4

Jamestown 5, Courtland 3: The Eagles went to Fredericksburg, won four of the six singles matches and held on to reach their third consecutive state title match.

Jamestown will go to Huntington Park for a 9 a.m. Thursday title match against Sherando, which knocked off Handley in a reversal of their Region C final.

As they frequently have been this season, Julia Clark and Lauren Elliott were in command for Jamestown at the top of the lineup. Clark’s 6-0, 6-0 victory at line 1 and Elliott’s 6-1, 6-2 triumph at 2, combined with straight-sets victories by Scarlett Gamez at 4 and Emily Dahl at 6, gave the Eagles a 4-2 edge.

In doubles, Clark and Elliott squelched the hosts’ comeback ideas with a 6-2, 6-0 victory at No. 1.

Class 2

Poquoson 5, Woodstock Central 0: The Islanders reached the state title match for the second time in three years, shutting out the 2022 runner-up Falcons in the Shenandoah Valley.

At 8:30 a.m. Thursday at Virginia Tech, Poquoson will face Marion in a clash of teams seeking their first championship.

Meredith Woodruff, Sarah Litton, Sophie Young, Kate Lee and Karen Lee won their matches, and the Islanders’ Madison Wyatt was ahead when play was stopped.

At a glance

Boys

STATE SEMIFINALS

Class 5

Cox 5, Maury 1:

Singles: Neil Vanga (C) d. Patrick Stiles 6-1, 7-5; John Felts (M) d. James Lonergan 6-1, 6-3; Sam Dixon (C) d. Manolo Angeles 6-2, 7-6 (7-3); Alex Ortiz (C) d. Johnny March 6-3, 6-4; Luca Gandolfo (C) d. Keegan Anvar 7-5, 6-1; Matt Baan (C) d. Drew Nottingham 6-0, 6-0. Doubles: Nos. 1 and 3 did not finish the first set; No. 2 did not start.

Deep Run 5, Mills Godwin 3

Class 4

Hanover 5, Grafton 4

Western Albemarle 5, Broad Run 0

Class 3

Maggie Walker 5, Tabb 3:

Singles: Nicolas Crespo (T) d. Alex Percey 6-0, 4-6, 1-0 (10-8); Matthew Wornom (T) d. Ethan Choe 6-2, 3-6, 1-0 (11-9); Akley Papp (MW) d. Jared Kensick 6-1, 6-4; Carson Chang (MW) d. Jacob Dunster 6-2, 6-2; Christian Walsh (MW) d. Gus Alston 6-1, 6-2; Zain Moussa (T) d. Ryan Marks 6-1, 6-1. Doubles: No. 1 did not finish; Pappu-Wang d. Kensick-Alston 6-3, 6-1; Walsh-Rowan Muller d. Dunster-Moussa 6-4, 6-0.

Monticello 5, Liberty Christian 2

Class 2

Bruton 5, Riverheads 1:

Singles: Simphiwe Matibini (B) d. Swats 6-3, 7-6 (7-5); Anson Li (B) d. C. Cash 6-0, 6-0; Higgins (R) d. Thomas Lienard 6-3, 6-0; Max De Winter (B) d. Eppard 6-4, 6-4; Nick Felsman (B) d. Bryant 6-4, 6-4; Leon Strain (B) d. W. Cash 6-2, 6-4.

Glenvar 5, Floyd County 2

STATE FINALS

(Thursday at Huntington Park)

Class 6: Tuesday’s Freedom of South Riding-Cosby winner vs. Tuesday’s Thomas Jefferson S&T-Langley winner, 9 a.m.

Class 5: Deep Run vs. Cox, 11 a.m.

Class 4: Western Albemarle vs. Hanover, 9 a.m.

(Thursday at Virginia Tech)

Class 3: Monticello vs. Maggie Walker, 10:30 a.m.

Class 2: Glenvar vs. Bruton, 8:30 a.m.

Girls tennis

STATE SEMIFINALS

Class 6

Freedom of South Riding 5, Battlefield 3

Langley 5, James Madison 3

Class 5

Princess Anne 5, Cox 0

Douglas Freeman 5, Riverside 2

Class 4

Jamestown 5, Courtland 3

Singles: Julia Clark (J) d. Adele Granger 6-0, 6-0; Lauren Elliott (J) d. Meredith Stapleton 6-1, 6-2; Libby Snow (C) d. 6-4, 6-3; Scarlett Gamez (J) d. Drew Sherwood 6-3, 6-2; Allison Meyer (C) d. Gladys Smith 6-3, 6-2; Emily Dahl (J) d. Kelsie Ashwood 7-5, 6-1. Doubles: Clark-Elliott d. Granger-Stapleton 6-3, 6-0; Snow-Meyer led Zhou-Gamez 6-2, 2-3, did not finish; Sherwood-M. Lawson d. Dahl-Rachel Yu 6-3, 6-0.

Sherando 5, Handley 3

Class 3

Maggie Walker 5, James Monroe 0

Abingdon 5, Spotswood 4

Class 2

Poquoson 5, Woodstock Central 0

Marion 5, Radford 4

Class 1

Rappahannock 5, Buffalo Gap 1

George Wythe of Wytheville 5, Lebanon 2

STATE FINALS

(Thursday at Huntington Park)

Class 6: Langley vs. Freedom of South Riding, 11 a.m.

Class 5: Douglas Freeman vs. Princess Anne, 11 a.m.

Class 4: Sherando vs. Jamestown, 9 a.m.

(Thursday at Virginia Tech)

Class 3: Abingdon vs. Maggie Walker, 10:30 a.m.

Class 2: Marion vs. Poquoson, 8:30 a.m.

Class 1: George Wythe of Wytheville vs. Rappahannock, 12:30 p.m.