LYNCHBURG, Va. – VHSL team tennis state championships were held at Liberty University with two of our local high schools in contention.
On the girls side of Class 1, Bland County battled the defending three-time state champion Rappahannock. The Bears left no doubt from start to finish in what was a 5-1 victory--the first for the program.
Tinley Worley, Addison Myers, Kendall Worley, Alysia Lopez and Laiken Wolfe picked up the singles wins for the Bears. The Raiders lone win came from Ava Cleary who defeated Annabelle Rasnake.
“We haven’t had somebody in a state championship, state tournament even, in years,“ said Bland County senior Kendall Worley. ”So, this really sends a message to our county and to all the surrounding counties and all the surrounding schools that Bland isn’t somebody you can really just dismiss. We’ll always be there and it’s just so special to be here with this group of girls. We are all so close-knit and these are some of my best friends out here and I love them all so much and I’m so proud of us."
Bland County High School went without a girls tennis program for a decade until coach Jonathan Romano helped revive things just three years ago. The Bears victory on Thursday not only snapped Rappahannock’s championship streak but also a 73 game team win streak.
In Class 2 boys action, Floyd County put up a hard-fought battle but came up short to Bruton by a score of 5-2.
Individual scores included:
-Christoph Schweitzer (Bruton) def. Augie Biviano (FC), 6-0, 6-1
-Milo Grimes (FC) def. Bryson Jones (Bruton), 6-7(9), 4-6
-Forrest Radford (FC) def. Peter Henderson (Bruton), 6-3, 6-2
-Alek Rivera (Bruton) def. Nathan Metz (FC), 6-1, 6-4
-Noah Praszczalek (Bruton) def. Robert Disharoon (FC), 6-2, 6-2
-Tiernan Bradley (Bruton) def. Bryson Harrison (FC), 6-4, 6-4
-Doubles: Schweitzer, Rivera def. Biviano, Metz, 6-1, 6-1
Floyd County freshman Forrest Radford relished the opportunity to compete at the state level and even through a loss, sees the benefit of having a long season.
“Everything just helps us form stronger going into next year, no matter what happens this year,” Radford said.