Western Albemarle’s Alex Preve may not have been able to sleep, but he was certainly able to play a little tennis.
After a dominating performance in the Group AA semifinal against Hidden Valley by the Warriors’ sophomore group in the bottom half of the ladder and junior Teddy Nelson’s win at No. 3, only Preve and No. 1 Cam Scot were left on the court with only one win needed to close out the match. Preve struggled to sleep Thursday night, owing at least partially to the fact that he dropped his match against Hidden Valley last year, and, also, to plain nerves.
“I was just nervous—I’ve been thinking about today for a long time,” Preve said. “A lot of us couldn’t really sleep well.”
The senior slugged through the match though and picked up a 6-1, 6-4 win, clinching a 5-0 shutout victory over the Titans. His teammates, however, weren’t buying it — they knew Preve was ready to come through.
“Alex was saying he was tired and out of energy and stuff, and I was like, ‘he’ll do it,’” Scot said. “He’ll push through it, don’t worry about it.”
Last year Hidden Valley and Western locked up in the Group AA finals, a six-hour plus battle that eventually yielded Western its third straight title, but this time, things, obviously went by much quicker for the Warriors. Preve avenged a three-set loss from last year by topping Zach Elton.
Preve’s gutty victory finished off the easy win, but the Warriors’ bottom half, thought to potentially be something of a liability early in the year when these tougher matches rolled around, set the stage for him, working efficiently to push Western to a 3-0 lead. Will Diamond was particularly strong, wrapping his match in short order with a 6-0, 6-0 victory.
“He’s a newcomer to the game too, just a couple of years in,” said Western coach Charles Ix. “His improvement from last year to this year and the beginning of this season to now is unbelievable. He’s coming in and he’s hitting with authority.”
Tom Lewis wasn’t far behind with a 6-0, 6-2 victory, while Andrew Loving picked up a 6-3, 6-2 win with ease. Once Nelson won 6-3, 6-2 against hard-hitting Chris Migliarese, Western was in control.
Scot, who played through two incredibly tough opponents Thursday in the individual singles tournament, had a see-saw match with Chris Barker, who knocked off Preve last year. Scot looked out of sorts in the first set, falling 6-3, then bounced back for an easy 6-0 win in the second set. He led 2-1 when the match was halted due to Preve’s win.
Western (22-0) will face Jamestown in the state finals for a chance at a fourth straight title. The Eagles trumped E.C. Glass easily Friday, rolling 5-1 to advance to the final.
Individual Doubles
After wrapping up spots in the finals for Saturday, Jamestown and Western’s top doubles teams met in the semifinals for the individual doubles tournament, with Elliot Mee and Miles Neilson of Jamestown knocking off a rejuvenated Preve and Nelson 7-5, 6-3.
The match remained close throughout with just a few points deciding the outcome. Mee and Neilson will take on Salem’s tandem of Patrick O’Keefe and Will Drougas.
