Warriors take Jefferson boys tennis title

The Western Albemarle boys tennis team has a well-deserved reputation as a state power. Year after year, the Warriors produce quality, intelligent players that advance deep into the state tournament, to the tune of back-to-back Group AA titles.

That reputation was further solidified on Wednesday afternoon as the Warriors trounced Monticello 5-0 to capture the Jefferson District championship.

WAHS dominated in doubles as top pair Joey Manilla teamed with Alex Preve to win 6-2, 6-0 over Zac Grigg and Bret Diehl. The duo of Cam Scot and Teddy Nelson edged Monticello’s Luke Nadkarni and Colin Rowe, 7-6 (7-1), 7-5, after being down 4-5 in both sets.

After earning three wins in doubles, two more wins would secure the championship for the Warriors, and they got those wins quickly.

In singles, Ahmed Khokar defeated Chi-Jae Cho, 6-2, 6-0, and Andrew Loving took care of Colin Mooney to clinch the championship.

WAHS coach Charles Ix was proud of how his team performed on the night and all season.

“I was pretty happy,” he said. “We’ve got a very strong singles lineup.”

His singles lineup has battled all year helping WAHS (14-1) add another trophy to its already-crowded case.

But it’s just starting for the Warriors, who enter the Region II tournament as the No. 3 seed. It took the team a while to hit full speed, and they are rounding into form at just at the right time.

“It’s been a weird year,” said Ix. “We would play two matches one week and then we wouldn’t play for a week. It was really hard to get this team to get jelled.

“But I can see now, after last week and this week, that the team is jelling.”

They will need to continue coming together if they want to be crowned champions of Virginia for the third straight time. This time, the Warriors will have to prove it on the road.

“We are going to have to go out on the road and win matches,” Ix said.

Warriors edge Mustangs to win girls title

In their two previous matches, Monticello and Western Albemarle have played as tight as it comes. Both times, the Warriors exited victorious by one match, and they won by an identical 5-4 score in the Jefferson District final on Wednesday.

The Warriors went up 2-1 in doubles before splitting the singles matches.

Sarah Nugent, Lauren Hagspiel and Anna Ware won singles matches for Western, while Lizzie Gaffney, Kate Geldmacher and Mariah Shaw won for Monticello.

“It was just another great match,” said Western coach Betsy Nugent. “We’re very pleased with the girls’ play tonight. Hopefully it will take us into regions.”