The favorites prevailed Wednesday afternoon as top-seeded Kurt Mittmann of Bruton and Leah Walter of Jamestown captured their first Bay Rivers District tennis singles titles at Huntington Park.
Walter, who outlasted her younger sister, freshman Anna Walter, 6-4, 6-3, lost in the singles final each of the past two years, and was thrilled to cap off her senior season on top.
“It feels awesome,” Leah Walter said. “It’s an honor being able to get this far so many times; I’m just happy to finally win one.”
Leah called the match one of the most “friendly” she’s ever played, admitting it was tough for her and her sister, who had never before played an official match, to compete on opposite sides of the net in a tournament final.
“We talked before the match and agreed to just play our games and not question any calls, even though we both do that sometimes as a strategy,” Walter added. “I thought it was going to be much more intense.
Mittmann’s singles final against Jamestown’s Fabian Schleicher was perhaps the most entertaining match of the day, and easily the most intense as the two players went back and forth exchanging powerful strokes.
Mittmann eventually caught on to a unique tendency of Schleicher’s, and said consistency was the difference in him eventually outlasting the scrappy first-year exchange student from Austria 7-6 (7-2), 6-3.
“Fabian hits a really hard ball,” Mittmann said after the match. “But he likes low balls, which is different because usually you like a high forehand ball, so I had to go against my initial reaction to hit it low and aim high.
“I had to really be consistent, run [Schleicher] around a little bit and just pick my spots when to be aggressive. It was a great match.”
Despite the loss, Schleicher, who entered the tournament unseeded, offered one of the more impressive runs to the singles final in recent memory. He battled through severe cramping in both his quarterfinal and semifinal matches before edging two higher-seeded opponents to reach the tournament’s final day.“I didn’t expect to play as well as I did,” Schleicher said. “I took down the number two and number three seed, so I’m happy about that.
“I only have one year (at Jamestown), so I hope to qualify for states with my team, do well in regionals and just have fun with my teammates.”
Following their victories in the singles title matches, both Leah Walter and Mittmann returned to the court after a half-hour break and achieved similar success in the doubles final.
Leah Walter teamed up with her younger sister – happy to be on the same side of the court this time – and defeated fellow Eagles teammates Elizabeth Wallace and Kathy Sharp 6-1, 6-0 in an all-Jamestown High final.
Mittmann and teammate Patrick Riley’s road to a doubles’ championship didn’t come quite as easy.
The duo from Bruton got all they could handle from Jamestown’s Sam Ross and Mike Jones before edging the Eagles’ No. 1 doubles tandem 7-6 (7-5), 6-4. The opening set the tone for the competitive match as neither side broke serve until the tie breaker.
It was the first district title of any kind for Riley, a senior, who with a big smile said, “It feels great. I kind of lost interest in tennis early in the year, but I kept playing for Kurt and [coach James] Barr, and to finish it out now is just an amazing feeling. I never thought I’d make it here.”
In the third-place matches, York’s Gaby Tersigni edged teammate Teresa Alvarez, the Falcons’ No. 1 singles player, for the first time ever 6-1, 6-4. The two then teamed up in doubles to outlast Grafton’s Sydney Short and Kayla Jefferson in three sets, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
On the boys’ side, Jamestown’s Sam Ross defeated Ethan Buck 6-4, 6-1 in the third-place singles match. Buck got a bit of revenge in the doubles consolation, teaming up with Vraj Gajjar to overcome a first-set defeat and edge Jamestown’s Nathan Cambell and Derrick Nielson 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
District Player of the Year awards went to the two singles champions, Mittmann and Leah Walter, while Bruton’s James Barr and Jamestown’s Karen Johnson earned top coaching honors.
Results:
BOYS
Singles
Final
No. 1 Mittmann (Bruton) def. Schleicher (Jamestown) 7-6 (7-2), 6-3
Third-place match
No. 4 Ross (Jamestown) def. No. 3 Buck (York) 6-4, 6-1
Doubles
Final
No. 1 Mittmann/Riley (Bruton) def. No. 2 Ross/Jones (Jamestown) 7-6 (7-5), 6-4
Third-place match
No. 3 Buck/Gajjar (York) def. Campbell/Nielson (Jamestown) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
GIRLS
Singles
Final
No. 1 L. Walter (Jamestown) def. A. Walter (Jamestown) 6-4, 6-3
Third-place match
Tersigni (York) def. No. 2 Alvarez (York) 6-1, 6-4
Doubles
Final
No. 1 L. Walter/A. Walter (Jamestown) def. Wallace/Sharp (Jamestown) 6-1, 6-0
Third-place match
No. 4 Alvarez/Dantzler (York) def. No. 3 Short/Jefferson (Grafton) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
