Western, Monticello standouts bow out

In the last day of Region II competition at the Boar’s Head Inn Sports Club on Wednesday, athletes from two powerful area tennis programs concluded their respective seasons.

Western Albemarle’s Shannon Bayliss fell short in the region singles final to John Handley’s Elizabeth Gardiner in a hard-fought three-set match. The doubles team of Monticello’s Amanda Wagner and Lizzie Gaffney were eliminated by Gardiner and teammate Mykenzie Garrett, 6-2, 6-4.

Bayliss, who handed Gardiner her only loss of the season by the same score in the region team tournament last Saturday, was playing in her fourth match in 24 hours and jumped out to a 5-1 lead to open Wednesday’s championship match. She held on, 7-5, despite a comeback effort from her opponent.

Gardiner went on to win the second set 6-0 and outlasted Bayliss 6-4 in the third to end her career at Western. She finished 13-4 in singles play this season.

“[Gardiner] really kept Shannon out of her rhythm,” Warriors coach Betsy Nugent said. “Shannon likes to hit a hard ball, and when she gets in her groove, it’s hard for anyone to handle her power. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t there today.

“I know she’s got to be disappointed. I know she wanted another shot at an individual state title to go with her doubles state title.”

The senior — who suffered an ankle injury in her final basketball game earlier this year — turned her ankle again in Tuesday’s semifinal match over Heritage’s Meleah Nassar yet rallied to win and move on to the title match.

“Going in, I knew I was going to play a tough player,” Gardiner said. “Last Saturday, she blew me off the court. She has a great serve and a great forehand.”

Nugent is sad to see Bayliss move on from the Western program.

“She just had a great four years at Western,” said Nugent. “I think she represented Western well and she’s absolutely a class act on and off the court. I don’t want to call [next year] a rebuilding year but losing Shannon’s going to hurt us but we’re just going to work hard all season.”

The Warriors will also lose two other seniors including Anjali Nanda. Bayliss will be attending Virginia in the fall and plans to play club tennis.

With her big sister, senior Elisabeth, sick and unable to play but in attendance for support, Amanda Wagner and her newly-assigned doubles partner Gaffney gave the 15-0 Gardiner and Garrett everything they had in a back-and-forth match.

“I was real impressed with how strong this team was so quickly,” Handley coach Terry Ewell said of the pair, who were playing just their second match as partners. “They were very good to be so young.”

Gardiner added: “It’s kind of uncomfortable when you’ve been playing with someone else the whole season and you’re not as familiar with their movements, that probably played to our advantage.”

Freshman Gaffney filled in nicely for the elder Wagner, giving coach Mike Mountjoy and the Mustang faithful a pleasant glimpse into the future of the Monticello program.

“If you think about the number of matches and the number of hours they spent on their feet, for them to dig deep and come in and compete as well as they did in the regionals speaks volumes to their character and their will to win,” Mountjoy said.

“We’re not there yet, but we’re getting there. A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step, and we’ve certainly taken more than a single step.”