Western Albemarle’s girls tennis program is no stranger to playing important games in the postseason, but for the last two years, the state tournament has proven a little elusive. For two straight years, Western has fallen one win short of the state tournament, losing in the region semifinals.
That short drought is over. Western rolled 6-0 past Brookville in the Class 3, Region C semifinals to lock up a state tournament berth. The Warriors shook off a delayed start to efficiently roll past the Bees with three singles players winning 6-0, 6-0.
“We had a little bit of a delay with the start so we were all sort of waiting around and we all still got out there and played pretty well,” said Western No. 1 Hannah Kearns.
Kearns was the last player to wrap up in the win, winning 6-1, 6-0 but ahead of her No. 4 Lilly Moore won 6-0, 6-0, No. 2 Corinne Jennings won 6-0, 6-0, No. 6 Caylyn Pelletier won 6-0, 6-0, No. 3 Anna O’Shea won 6-1, 6-0 and No. 5 Sarah Inman clinched the match with a 6-1, 6-1 win.
Kearns was a freshman playing No. 3 singles on the last Western team to advance to the state tournament and now she’s setting the tone at the No. 1 spot. The Warriors came into the postseason with a spark after a recent two-match series with Albemarle where Western bounced back from a 5-4 loss in the first battle to win 5-4 in the second clash.
“We’ve had some good momentum, everyone has been playing well and playing really hard, so hopefully that carries over to our next match,” Kearns said.
That’ll be against Turner Ashby, the No. 1 seed in Region 3C by virtue of record, Thursday at 1 p.m. on the road. From there it’s on to the state tournament.
Singles
1. Hannah Kearns (Western) def. Kaitlyn Swan 6-1, 6-0
2. Corinne Jennings (WA) def. Bailey Livingston 6-0, 6-0
3. Anna O’Shea (WA) def. Nadia Reaves 6-1, 6-0
4. Lilly Moore (WA) def. Clara Cedillo 6-0, 6-0
5. Sarah Inman (WA) def. Rhi Stalnaker 6-1, 6-1
6. Caylyn Pelletier (WA) def. Zyaiah Harvey 6-0, 6-0
