Its 2006 appearance in the Group AAA state quarterfinals took almost seven hours to play and left Jefferson’s girls tennis team exhausted and disappointed.
The Colonials made sure this year’s state quarterfinal experience ran far more smoothly. And for their trouble they get a chance to avenge last spring’s bitter defeat, too.
Jefferson needed just 90 minutes to put an end to Osbourn Park’s season on Tuesday at Mason District Park, a 5-0 victory where every player won in straight sets.
That sets up a semifinal match on Friday against Mills Godwin, the two-time state runner-up which beat the Colonials in that epic quarterfinal last spring, 5-4.
“The Godwin match was definitely a tough one to take. But we were also glad that it was a hard match, too,” said Jefferson sophomore No. 1 Natalie Kirchner, who improved to 11-3 on Tuesday with her 6-0, 6-2 win over OP’s Shanique Alabi. “We would have been a lot more upset if everybody had a bad day. It turned out they just had a great team.”
Jefferson had never reached the state semifinals before, according to coach Ray Brown. Its Northern Region championship — won on May 18 over W.T. Woodson — was also a program first. That victory was even sweeter considering the Cavaliers bested TJ for the Liberty District title during the regular season, the first time the Colonials hadn’t won a district championship since 2001.
“We were all really annoyed that we lost to Woodson twice,” Kirchner said. “Especially since they were both close matches. In the region final that was it. We didn’t want to go through that again.”
Jefferson received wins from five starters on Tuesday, including No. 3 Jennifer Fang, a 6-1, 6-1 winner over OP’s Libby Butler, and No. 4 Nora Lam, a 6-0, 6-1 victor against Kelly Flam. Jefferson No. 5 Meliha Skaljic beat the Yellow Jackets’ Maria Vermejo while TJ No. 6 Kristen Rhodes was a 6-1, 6-4 winner vs. Lauren Riley. One singles match was cut short when Jefferson clinched the team victory. Colonials No. 2 Stephanie Pao was up a set on OP’s Chelsea Gray with the second set tied at 3.
Group AAA boys and girls state tennis tournaments
» Jefferson and Mills Godwin square off in the Group AAA girls state team semifinals on Friday at Huntington Park Tennis Center in Newport News. That match is at 9 a.m.
» Osbourn Park ended its season at 18-2. The Yellow Jackets were Cedar Run District champions and won their first 18 matches before losing in the Northwest Region final to Albemarle on May 21 and in the state quarterfinals to Jefferson on Tuesday.
» W.T. Woodson’s girls also had a successful day on Tuesday. The Cavaliers, Liberty District champions and Northern Region runners-up, earned a 5-0 victory at Albemarle. Woodson plays at 9 a.m. on Friday against either Eastern Region champion Frank W. Cox or Deep Run, the Central Region runner-up.
