BOYS TENNIS: Patriots roll past Mountain View

As the stupor of a two-hour bus ride melted away for the visitors, the Albemarle boys tennis team found itself in an unexpected dogfight in the Commonwealth District final on Wednesday evening. After a dominant first-set performance in which no Patriot won by fewer than four points, second-seeded Mountain View took a pair of second sets to stay alive.
Nearly-unbeaten Albemarle reverted to form in the third sets.
No. 2 Quentin Jenkins and No. 6 Jeff Barton finished off their Mountain View opponents with relative ease as the Patriots captured the district title with a 5-0 victory.
Michael Koenig, Brian Chen and Cameron Hill claimed the 3-5 matches in straight sets, but Barton and Jenkins ran into more resistance. Barton dropped a second-set tiebreaker to the Wildcats’ Cameron Holmes before taking control in the third set of a 6-0, 6-7 (7-3), 6-2 win.
“I asked him, ‘How do you feel?’” said Albemarle coach Chip Grobmyer, who spoke to Barton after the tiebreaker. “He said, ‘No problem, coach, I’ve got this.’ I love to hear that kind of confidence, so I let him play his game.”
Grobmyer’s confidence in his 4-6 spots was vindicated on Wednesday night when Chen and Hill won in straight sets over Wildcats brothers Ryan and Brett Stones.
Hill ended his match with a lob just over Brett Stones’ racket before forcing a long return on match point.
But it was Koenig that had the most impressive performance, blasting Jared Elly 6-0, 6-0 to get off the court long before his teammates.
“We’ve been working really hard on Michael, particularly his serve,” Grobmyer said. “It’s not a weapon — he was losing points on it on double faults or weak serves; opponents were jumping on them.
“Thanks to [Albemarle No. 1] Jon Pyo’s tips, it turned from a detriment to a weapon. Tonight it really worked well for him, and when you’re serving well, the rest of your game usually follows suit.”
While his teammates were closing out the match, Pyo and Mountain View’s Brendon Ackermann were locked in a battle on the No. 1 court. Their result was rendered moot when the Patriots went up 5-0, but Pyo finished out the match anyway, winning a 7-3 tiebreaker to claim the match in straight sets.
The Patriots (18-1) had the Wildcats on their heels for much of the first sets of each match.
Jenkins and Hill won 6-2 in the closest first sets of the day, but Holmes and Mountain View No. 2 Ben Hemenway came alive in second-set victories.
“After we shook off the road, we got down to it,” said Mountain View coach Rick Bradley.
“I thought we had a chance to get to doubles. No. 4 and No. 5 had a chance to get to the third set, and if we get to the third set, it’s a new ballgame.”
Albemarle opens Northwest Region play at home against the winner of Culpeper and Loudoun Valley on Monday.
Mountain View (14-5) visits Fauquier on Monday.