Briar Woods Sophomore Battles Back to Secure Win

By Matt Brooks (Contact)

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Down one set and trailing midway through the second, Briar Woods sophomore Brett Stockman needed to turn things around. The Falcons led Loudoun County, 3-2, with the first five singles matches in the book, and a win from Stockman would all but assure victory in Friday’s Virginia AA Dulles District boys’ tennis tournament final in Ashburn.

With all eyes on court No. 6, Stockman dug in against Raiders senior Nathan Latka and rallied to take the second set. The two battled back and forth in a grueling third set until Stockman held serve to take a 5-4 lead. In the ensuing game, Latka fought off six match points on his own serve before falling, 6-1, 5-7, 4-6, in a match that lasted nearly three hours.

The Falcons took control of the match and clinched a 5-2 victory when the No. 2 doubles tandem of Kyle Slack and Patrick Ciullo swept County’s Josh Montgomery and Andrew Sinden in straight sets, eliminating the need to finish the two other doubles matches.

Photo: Matt Brooks

Briar Woods senior No. 1 Stephen Law accepts the Dulles District Tournament Championship as his teammates look on. The Falcons defeated Loudoun County 5-2 Friday afternoon in Ashburn.

“That was huge,” Briar Woods Coach Jim Noland said of Stockman’s win at No. 6. “That was the match, because no offense to their team, but they were not going to beat us at Number 1 doubles. So when we got that fourth point, really, the match was over.”

Briar Woods jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead after straight-set victories from senior No. 1 Stephen Law, senior No. 2 Patrick Melbourne and Ciullo at No. 4. But the Raiders responded when sophomore No. 5 Chris Czupak took out Falcons senior David Baroody and got within one after senior No. 3 Josh Montgomery outlasted Slack in three sets, 5-7, 6-0, 6-3.

After letting a big lead get away from him in the first set, Montgomery stormed back in the second, reeling off nine straight games to take the set and a 3-0 lead in the third. Slack — who had been 13-0 on the season — threatened in the final stages, but the senior from Loudoun County held on for the crucial victory.

“We felt that we had to win seeds three through six,” Loudoun County Coach Randy Hanger said. “It was nice to see Josh come through, especially as a senior. We really felt like he could win that match. Andrew Sinden’s match was very close at Number 4. It was tough to see Nathan go down in the third set, but he’s a senior and this is only his second year starting for us, so it was a great effort.”

With the victory, the Falcons — who won the regular-season championship with a 14-0 record — defeated the Raiders in the district final for the second straight year.

Both teams advance to the Region II tournament the week after next, with Briar Woods earning a No. 1 seed and the accompanying first-round bye. The Falcons reached the regional final last year before falling to Western Albermarle. They hope that their senior-laden roster can take the next step this time around.

Law will also be in action tomorrow in the district singles tournament and Tuesday in the district doubles tournament, along with teammate Melbourne and County’s team of Peter Satagaj and Jeremy Wetzel.

“We got to the finals last year, but we ran into a really good team in Western Albermarle,” Noland said. “I know if we have to play them again, we’re going to be up against it. But everything is gravy, whatever we do.”

Singles

No. 1 Law (BW) def. Satagaj (LC) 6-0, 6-3

No. 2 Melbourne (BW) def. Wetzel (LC) 6-3, 6-3

No. 3 Montgomery (LC) def. Slack (BW) 5-7, 6-0, 6-3

No. 4 Ciullo (BW) def. Sinden (LC) 6-0, 6-4

No. 5 Czupak (LC) def. Baroody (BW) 7-5, 6-0

No. 6 Stockman (BW) def. Latka (LC) 1-6, 7-5, 6-4

Score after singles: BW 4, LC 2

Doubles

No. 2 Slack/Ciullo (BW) def. Montgomery/Sinden (LC) 6-1, 6-1

Final score: BW 5, LC 2

Extra Points

By Paul Tenorio and Matt Brooks