Osbourn Park’s depth key to fast start
In its current nine-match winning streak, Osbourn Park has dominated at the top and bottom of its singles ladder.
With her 6-1, 6-1 win over Forest Park’s Marissa Jimenez on Tuesday, No. 6 Yellow Jacket seed Rosanna Payne raised her record to 10-0. Meanwhile, No. 1 seed Carola Royuela won her ninth consecutive match as she handled Michelle Le, 6-0, 6-0. Royuela began the season with a loss to Stafford’s Laura Johnson and that remains her only defeat.
Osbourn Park (9-1 overall, 3-0 in the Cedar Run District) edged Forest Park at home on Tuesday, 5-4. The Yellow Jackets won, yet again, at No. 1 and 6 singles and also at No. 4, where Fatima Latif defeated Katherine Bailey, 6-1, 6-0. Forest Park singles winners were Katy Carey (6-0, 6-1 over Amy Obertubbesing), Angie Stonebreaker (6-0, 6-4 over Renee Messier) and Caitlin Heston (6-3, 7-6 over Chelsea Cunningham).
In doubles, Royuela and Obertubbesing defeated Carey and Bailey, 10-2; the Bruins’ Stonebreaker and Heston defeated Messier and Payne, 10-1; and Latif and Stephanie Surgent won 10-2 against Angela Bayes and Marissa Paslick. Kele Mangus, a junior who is one of Forest Park’s top players, missed the match because of a shoulder injury.
“Fatima Latif is doing really well in singles and on our third doubles team [with Surgent],” Osbourn Park coach Lisa Rucker said. “The Stafford match was their very first match together and they lost that one, but they haven’t lost since.”
The Yellow Jackets stay out of the district to play host to Gar-Field today and Woodbridge on Thursday. Earlier this year, OP beat Gar-Field 7-2 and Woodbridge 5-4. Rucker’s team can all but lock up its second Cedar Run title if it wins at Stonewall Jackson next Tuesday.
“We had some tough individual matches with Gar-Field last time, so that will be a tough one before we even play Woodbridge,” Rucker said. “I wish we had a day to practice for Woodbridge because Lewis [Forrest] is such a good coach and they always end up coming on strong the second time around.”
FIRST WIN FOR EAGLES
Colonial Forge won Tuesday for the first time this season, topping Brooke Point on the road, 5-4.
The Black-Hawks won earlier this season by the same score at Colonial Forge. Just as in that meeting, the team competition came down to the No. 2 doubles match. Tuesday evening, the Eagles (1-7 overall, 1-6 in the district) won as Jackie Keel and Kim Corbett outlasted Jenni Odd and Rebecca Burns, 10-7.
“Everything else was done,” Colonial Forge coach Sarah Black said. “We were just waiting for them. They had that pressure and it was hot today, too. We won three singles and they won three singles, then we won No. 3 doubles. As soon as our No. 1s lost, we knew it was all down to that last match.”
Corbett, a junior, plays in the top singles spot for the Eagles. By playing in tournaments in the offseason, she has bettered her game and now hopes to improve the speed of her shots.
“A lot of them will play more year-round, like Kim has,” Black said. “She can hit most balls, but where she loses her points is on errors.”
The Eagles have no seniors this season. Rachel Burdsal and Kasey McGreevy are sophomores, while Corbett, Ashley Korpiel, Ruth Will, Melissa Downham, and Brittany Bourgeois are juniors.
Lacy Lusk covers high school girls tennis for the Potomac News & Manassas Journal Messenger. He can be reached via e-mail or at (703) 878-8053.