On a beautiful Friday afternoon, the St. Christopher’s varsity tennis team welcomed Midlothian High School to their home courts. After another great match, the Saints secured a 7-2 victory.

 

Midlothian is a very strong team, which was evident right from the beginning of singles play. At number six singles, senior Wil Venitz ran into a red-hot opponent. Wil tried every different tactic, but had to concede defeat to a solid player. Not to be outdone, senior Stephen McCray played a tremendous match at number two. Using his powerful forehand, Stephen was able to level the score at one. The Saints took the lead after sophomore Alston Hackney won his number four singles match. The match was even at first, but Alston raised his game the longer the match progressed, which was great to see. At number three singles, junior Jackson Barkstrom played a terrific match. In a contest characterized by long baseline rallies, Jackson proved to be the stronger player. Senior Matthew Fernandez played quite the match at number one. Faced with an accomplished opponent, Matthew used his varied game to score a very convincing victory. At number five singles, eight-grader Alaister Burke was locked in a close match with many momentum shifts. For a while it looked like Alaister would come out victorious, but his opponent deserves a great deal of credit for staging a great comeback. Despite losing, Alaister should be proud of the fact that he left everything he had on the court.

 

So with the Saints up 4-2 before doubles, the last three matches promised to be exciting. To the credit of the St. Christopher’s players, they came out fast in all three doubles. Stephen and Matthew continued their strong play of this season, and clinched the win for their team. At number three, Alaister and Wil should be commended for bouncing back after their singles losses. Both of them played an exceptional doubles match to earn the win. Finally, Jackson and Alston completed the doubles sweep with a great victory at number two. Overall, the Saints played very well, and the entire team deserves praise for playing with both poise and intensity.

The team now has a week off before traveling to the Woodberry Invitational, which begins next Friday, April 15.