It isn’t just that he’d faulted a few times. What Lee Wilson did over four matches was almost unthinkable for a player of his caliber.
“I had a match where I double faulted 22 times and that’s just unacceptable,” Wilson said.
Somehow though, despite continuing struggles with his serving accuracy, Wilson keeps winning, and he kept that run alive Friday in the Northwest Region championship against Loudoun Valley at Albemarle. Wilson rallied for a crucial singles win before teaming with Mike Barton in doubles for a match-clinching victory in straight sets, dropping just a single game along the way. The doubles victory capped a 5-2 match win for the Patriots and Albemarle’s first Northwest title in five years.
Albemarle nabbed a 4-2 lead in singles when Ben Anderson, Wilson, Barton and Timmy Shaw swept the No. 3 through No. 6 matchups. With that lead, Albemarle just needed to pick up a single doubles win. They got it from Wilson and Barton’s victory. Both players had tough matches during singles, with Barton edging out the Vikings’ David Peworchik 7-6 (7-2), 6-2 and Wilson going to three sets. But together, the tandem made short work of Jake Seraphin and Erik Driscoll.
“It started in singles, I could tell if I was going to just hit with the guy I was going to make the first error,” Barton said. “So, I tried to be proactive and come to the net first and try and put the ball away. It carried over to doubles too.”
Wilson didn’t feel nearly as comfortable. His serving problems have plagued him — in a four match stretch he had over 100 double faults, but he won all four showdowns. Still, after those 22 double faults in the recent match, he spent three hours practicing his serving to get something going. He managed to do just that, but he slipped back against Loudoun Valley in singles play, double faulting an entire game when he was up 5-1.
That makes Wilson’s wins, including the three-set victory Friday, his first ever three-set win, all the more impressive as he has to find more creative, unconventional ways to win without a major weapon at his disposal. That’s true for most of the Patriots who are, on the whole, a savvy, resilient bunch.
“It’s not so much that they have great tennis strokes, it’s just that they know how to play the game and win points,” Grobmeyer said. “They know how to play good, winning tennis.”
Apparently. That’s the second match win in a row for Albemarle over a Cedar Run district opponent after the Patriots topped Stonewall Jackson in the regional semifinals to secure a spot in the Group AAA tournament. Albemarle is now set to host the Northern Region’s No. 2 squad June 1 in the state quarterfinals.
Albemarle 5, Loudoun Valley 2
Singles:
1. Noah Fenton (LV) d. Jon Pyo, 6-2, 6-3
2. Brandon Deleonardis (LV) d. Brian Chen, 6-3, 6-2
3. Ben Anderson (A) d. Jake Seraphin, 6-2, 6-4
4. Lee Wilson (A) d. Sam Riedel, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2
5. Mike Barton (A) d. David Peworchik, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2
6. Timmy Shaw (A) d. Erik Driscoll, 6-2, 6-0
Doubles:
1. Fenton/Deleonardis (LV) led Pyo/Chen, 6-0, 4-3, DNF
2. Wilson/Barton (A) d. Seraphin/Driscoll, 6-0, 6-1
3. Shaw/Peskov (A) led Riedel/Peworchik, 6-0, 5-3, DNF
