Albemarle’s Napolitano falls in region final

In Lynchburg, Loudoun Valley senior Kiersten Pappas held off a challenge from Albemarle sophomore Megan Napolitano to repeat as Northwest Region singles champion, 6-4, 6-7(7-5), 6-1.

Napolitano rallied from a 2-4 deficit to win the second-set tiebreaker and force a third set. But Pappas, the Group AAA runner-up as a junior, settled down in the third set to claim the title.

Pappas continued to have Napolitano’s number in the doubles competition, teaming with Juliana Jacangelo to defeat Napolitano and Abby Lesnoff, 6-1, 6-3, in the final. Napolitano and Lesnoff had beaten Mashal Temory and Rochelle Gaddis of Gar-Field, 6-1, 6-1, in the semifinals.

The finalists in singles and doubles will compete in the Group AAA tournament June 4 in Vienna. Albemarle returns to action on Thursday in the Northwest Region team semifinals against Osbourn Park at 5 p.m.

Warriors top Tigers in Region II quarters

A strong singles performance propelled Western Albemarle to a 5-2 victory over Brentsville District in the Region II quarterfinals on Tuesday.

Maddie Wilson, Sarah Nugent, Lauren Hagspiel and Anna Ware won singles matches for the Warriors before Wilson and Nugent sealed the win with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Anna Boning and Kelsey Brewster at No. 1 doubles.

Western (14-2) travels to Loudoun County on Thursday for the region semifinals.

“My girls played well,” said Western coach Betsy Nugent. “ We got off to a slow start, which we can’t afford to do against Loudoun. We just have to continue with our strong singles play.”