The Lord Botetourt tennis teams have a bunch of matches scheduled for this week with hopes that anticipated inclement weather doesn’t throw a wrench into their plans.
The girls have four matches in four days, weather permitting. They were scheduled to play at Hollins University against Christiansburg Monday, at William Fleming on Tuesday, at home to Salem tonight and at Franklin County Thursday at the Franklin County Parks and Rec Department courts on Sontag Road South of Rocky Mount. The girls have not played since April 17 prior to this week.
The boys were scheduled to host Fleming on Tuesday and play at Salem today, Wednesday, at 4:30 p.m. The boys defeated Northside last Friday at Hollins, 8-1, while the girls were rained out against the Vikings in Roanoke County.
Singles winners against the Vikings for the boys were Ethan Steryous, Davis Kidd, Ryan Dominisac, Nick Wright, Srijal Banlya and Noah McCarren. Doubles winners were the teams of Steryous and Kidd along with Dominisac and Wright.
“Scattered showers surrounded the area and had we been playing at Northside High School, the match likely would have been rained out,” said LB coach Tim Howard. “Fortunately, we were at Hollins University, our home courts. While there was a little sprinkle, it was not enough to stop play. There was a slight sense of urgency at the start with rain in the forecast, but it never fully arrived.”
Steryous and Kidd both won 8-0 in singles and combined to dominate first doubles, also 8-0.
“Ethan was feeling light on his feet today as he defeated Murtaza Khan,” said Howard. “Ethan’s game is really coming along. He is finding ways to maintain neutral positioning during big rallies and then attack even the slightest misplay from his opponent.
“Davis found his rhythm with wide serves and came to the net behind relaxed, well-placed approach shots. This is an intricate part of the game that many players struggle with because an approach shot is not necessarily a put-away shot. It is a shot used to maintain dominance in the point, and Davis did that well today. He consistently put himself in position to finish the next ball when needed.”
