Vikings defeat Patriots

With a berth in the Group AAA tournament already sewn up, Rich Lindsay’s undefeated Albemarle girls tennis team hosted another unbeaten team in Loudon Valley for the right to another home game.

After the Patriots got out to a slow start in singles, No. 5 and 6 players Elise Lord and Valentina Moshnikova each picked up victories to force doubles play, but the Patriots were unable to complete the comeback, falling to the Vikings, 5-2, in the Northwest Region championship.

“If we could have come out 3-3, I think we could have given them some more,” Lindsay said.  “I think that might have changed the dynamic of the match, but that’s a team that hasn’t been pushed often and we did all we could with them.  You know, when that happens you just tip your hat, shake their hand and say, ‘Good match.’”

No. 1 player Megan Napolitano came close to giving the Patriots (19-1) a 3-3 split after she took the first set from last years Northwest Region player of the year, Kiersten Pappas. However, Pappas rallied back to win the match, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.

“The first set was tight,” said Valley coach Brooke Brown.  “But then Kiersten got her legs back and just really tried to play her game.  Megan played great, and it’s always fun to watch them play against each other because they’re such great tennis players.  Kiersten was just able to pull it out and we were glad.”

Moshnikova, who was the last singles player to finish, initially dropped her first set 3-6, but shook it off and won the next two sets, 6-1, 6-2.

The Patriots’ first loss of the year means that they will head to Virginia Beach on Tuesday to play Frank Cox High in the state quarterfinals.

Lindsay is hoping that the competition his young players saw from the Vikings (15-0) will serve as a solid lesson for Tuesday.

“The majority of our kids are underclassmen,” Lindsay said.  “But really, for most of them, after playing two full seasons, they’re not sophomores anymore.  It’s time to start acting like juniors.  But those were seasoned players we were beat by and we left it all on the court.  I can live with that and so can they.”