FC, Bruton boys, Maury girls seek 1st team titles
This morning, with tennis balls flying all around the courts at Newport News’ Huntington Park and Virginia Tech, three programs from Hampton Roads will try to gather their first state team championships.
Jamestown’s girls are seeking to repeat, while the other three — the First Colonial and Bruton boys and the Maury girls — are in their first finals and pursuing their first state championships.
At Huntington Park, where 18 of the facility’s 20 courts will be in use at 9 a.m., First Colonial will try to dethrone Deep Run, one of the state’s powers for the past decade and a half.
FC is led by Grahame Brown, a national-caliber junior whose serve once was clocked at 127 mph. Though he has lost twice in the postseason to friend/rival Harrison Lee of Princess Anne, Brown should compete well against likely Deep Run No. 1 Zach Fleishman, the son of Newport News native Brian Fleishman — a former national women’s college Coach of the Year with Wake Forest.
The question is how much the rest of FC’s starters — Josh Johnson, Jack Reed, Ian Williams, Jace Privette and Parker Goodman — can build on the good feelings they generated in Monday’s 5-2 victory over Princess Anne for the Region A crown.
They’ll have to contend with a balanced Wildcats team that lost next to nothing from a squad that won the 2021 title with relative ease. Siddharth Pande, Christopher Newport recruit Aden Bashir and Hatcher Butterworth, Andrew Lee and Vyas Narasimhan comprise that group.
Class 5 girls
At the same time, Old Dominion recruit Mya Byrd will try to spark her team to even more uncharted territory. A two-time singles champion who’s favored to make it three this weekend, the senior is a prohibitive favorite against reigning team champion Douglas Freeman at the No. 1 spot. With her and strong No. 2 player Addison Felts as her doubles partner, the Commodores have the edge at the top of the lineup.
If some of the lower Maury starters such as Kamila Bardoun, Sabine Krigsvold, Reagan Heller and Finley McCashin come through against the kind of competition they haven’t seen too often, the Commodores could unseat the balanced Mavericks.
Class 4 girls
Jamestown’s girls have found their footing after a regular season that included losses to Maury and Grafton, the latter coming when the Eagles were dealing with injuries.
Jamestown shut out Grafton in the region final and won at Hanover in a semifinal without needing a doubles victory on either occasion, though its tandem of Julia Clark and left-hander Lauren Elliott is the reigning state doubles champion.
Clark is playing well despite a shoulder injury that has prompted her to serve underhand, and Elliott earned region singles runner-up honors.
Lily McCullough has exceptional offensive skills for a No. 3 player, while No. 4 Sydney Lowe and No. 5 Alana Fiscella have been reliable.
Class 2 boys
While those other finalists are at Huntington Park, Bruton will be at Virginia Tech as it tries to gain its first banner.
Its prize for 5-0 victories over Stuarts Draft and Bay Rivers District rival Poquoson in the first two state rounds is a trip to Blacksburg.
The Panthers will take on John Battle High of Bristol, which blanked Poquoson 5-0 in last year’s championship match.
Coach James Barr’s Bruton team is relatively inexperienced and young, but the Panthers quickly have learned consistent and sensible shotmaking as they have grown from a sub-.500 team last year to a region champion.