Though the Albemarle girls tennis team’s season ended last week, Megan Napolitano and Abby Lesnoff pressed on for the Patriots in both the singles and doubles AAA tournament quarterfinals Thursday.
Napolitano outlasted Christine Abbott out of Midlothian in three hard fought sets. The Albemarle junior pulled away from 2-2 to win the first set 6-2 before falling 7-5 in the second set as Abbott went with a high arching baseline stroke to keep her opponent pinned back. Napolitano bounced back in the third set, jumping on serves and putting Abbott on the run to win the match 6-2. Napolitano will face Warwick High’s Maureen Slattery today in the semifinals today.
Napolitano also joined forces with Lesnoff in the quarterfinal doubles portion of the event. The duo had not dropped a contest all year and that did not change on Thursday as they dispatched Frank Cox’s Faith Atiso and Jenny Lee with relative ease, 6-2, 6-1.
The four players met last year in the quarterfinals and the Albemarle duo and coach Rich Lindsay made the most of their scouting report, winning a fistful of points with overhead slams. Napolitano and Lesnoff move on to face Nicole Parker and Kelly Stewart in the semifinals today.
