Bruins get important district win
On back-to-back Tuesdays, Forest Park and Albemarle earned crucial victories on the road to force ties in the Cardinal and Commonwealth districts, respectively.
Yesterday, Forest Park moved into a tie with Woodbridge in the Cardinal by beating the Vikings, 6-3. The Bruins (8-5 overall, 3-1 in the district) had lost five of nine matches when the same two teams met at Forest Park.
Both teams finish their seasons with matches against Gar-Field and Hylton. If Woodbridge and Forest Park were to share the regular-season crown, they would meet in a one-match playoff to determine a Northwest Region tournament berth and the top seed in the district tournament, which will be held Oct. 3 and 7.
“This was most definitely our best win of the season,” Forest Park coach Steve Davis said. “We had consistency. Everyone played up to their potential today and finished games off.”
As No. 2 and No. 3 players, junior Katy Carey and senior Angie Stonebraker are both undefeated for the Bruins. Kele Mangus, a junior, had been playing in the No. 1 spot before injuring her shoulder. Her replacement, classmate Michelle Le, had to default Tuesday because of an injury.
Results from Tuesday’s Forest Park-Woodbridge match: Amanda Andrews (W) def. Le, default; Carey (FP) def. Nisha Rai, 6-2, 6-2; Stonebraker (FP) def. Angela Gulino, 6-1, 6-2; Caitlin Heston (FP) def. Michelle Billman, 6-0, 6-4; Wen Chun Wu (W) def. Marissa Paslik 6-0, 6-1; Katherine Bailey (FP) def. Seret Medhani, 7-5, 6-4.
And in doubles, Stonebraker/Heston def. Andrews/Rai, 10-4; Carey/Bailey def. Gulino/Janet Cardoso, 10-6; Wu/Medhani def. Paslik/Angela Bayes, 10-7.
PATRIOT MATCHES
A week before Forest Park’s triumphant road trip within Prince William County, Albemarle pulled off the same feat during its journey from just outside Charlottesville to Stafford County. The Patriots, who had lost 5-4 at home to Stafford earlier this season, spoiled the Indians’ bid for an undefeated regular season with a 5-4 win of their own.
In the rematch, No. 3 Stafford player Amber Mathur lost in straight sets after hurting her ankle. A senior who was part of the 2001 regional runner-up doubles team with Laura Johnson, Mathur was the only Indian to drop her match in an 8-1 win over Brooke Point yesterday.
“Amber sprained her ankle in about the second game of the match last week and that made her very ineffective,” Stafford coach Herb Artis said. “She kept playing, but she lost her match. We let her play doubles, and she and Laura still won.
“Mathur and Johnson also won against Brooke Point to remain undefeated. Johnson, the region’s singles champion as a sophomore last year, also kept her perfect record intact.
“Now, Amber has her ankle taped,” Artis said. “She’s still not moving too well and she wants to play. But she may have to sit one out.”
For Stafford, a home win over Culpeper on Thursday would guarantee at least a share of the district title. If the Indians and Patriots both win their district finales, the tentative date for the extra-match tiebreaker would be Monday at Culpeper. The Commonwealth District tournament is scheduled for Oct. 3, 4 and 8 with Stafford and Albemarle getting the byes for the first round.