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Powhatan tennis teams compete in 4B regional tournament
ROBBY FLETCHER Sports Editor
It’s been a year of growth for both the Powhatan boys and girls tennis teams, who both have rosters featuring generally young, but talented players still competing against a competitive and experienced district of opponents.
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Both showcased those talents with strong regional tournaments, with the girls winning their first round meeting over Monacan in a tight 5-4 battle before falling to top-seeded Courtland 5-0 while the boys team defeated Patrick Henry 5-2 in the first round and Courtland 5-0 in the second round before seeing the season end in the semifinals to the Hanover Hawks in a 5-0 finish.
The girls team entered the postseason with an 8-8 record after a 6-3 loss to Clover Hill on May 11 and a 6-3 win over Manchester on May 16. Monacan posed a familiar foe for Powhatan, with the regional matchup being the third meeting between the two this year.
The first two meetings were as close as can be, with the Chiefs taking the first matchup 5-4 and the Indians responding with a 5-4 win of their own in the second contest. The third one was very much on-brand, with the two teams tied up 3-3 heading into doubles.
In singles, the Indians got victories from No. 1 Emma Carter over Maylee Yang (6-3, 6-3), No. 4 Gianna LaRaffa over Kennedy Puryear (6-4, 7-6) and Zoé Lucas over Emma Smith (6-2, 6-3).
After losing the third line doubles set, the Indians needed the top two lines to come away with wins to get the team to advance, and while not easy, they managed to pull it off through intense tiebreaker sets.
The top pairing of Carter and Carter Quinn won the first set 6-3 over Yang and Claire LaFors, but had to dig deep after losing the second set 6-4 and losing a tiebreaker lead in the third set. Down 10-9 and a single point from losing the match and the entire game, they found a way to pull out the next three points to storm back and steal the win to keep their season alive.
Shortly after, LaRaffa and Polly Overboe took care of their own business, coming back from a
