Jefferson Girls Tennis Gets Revenge on McLean

After a bizarre finish to last year's Liberty District girls tennis season, Jefferson exacted revenge on McLean Monday, defeating the Highlanders 6-3.

The two teams ended in a three-way tie with Langley last year, but McLean won the district based on winning a coin flip. Jefferson and Langley then played for second place, with the Saxons coming out on top, a result the Colonials had all offseason to think about.

Jefferson’s No. 3 doubles team, juniors Madison Russell and Emily Ji, clinched the win by downing Nicole Bruner and Claire Ridgley, 10-1. After the win, their teammates let out TJ’s trademark, “yeah tennis!” cheer, which originated 10 years ago when a group of Jefferson tennis parents who had been scolded for cheering too vociferously tried to come up with a bland cheer that no one could find offensive. After last year’s coin flip debacle, the win and that emphatic yelp felt extra sweet for the Colonials.

“I know it (the coin toss) gave them motivation, for sure, but we just need to work a little harder and improve our weaknesses, hopefully the next time the outcome will be different,” said Nancy Brough, who agreed to coach the team for one season, seven years ago, but has stayed on because she “fell in love with the job.”

During the offseason the league’s tiebreaker rules were revised, and this year the top three teams will advance to the regionals, rather than the top two. Nonetheless, McLean advanced to the state final last year, so no one could accuse them of being anything other than a worthy champion.

McLean had two of its top players graduate, and two other talented players have eschewed the high school team in favor of the USTA circuit. On Monday, McLean’s new top player was outstanding. Freshmen Megumi Chen, playing in her very first high school match, trounced Rena Liu -- another very promising freshmen with lethal groundstrokes -- 10-2. Chen also won a decisive victory in the doubles, teaming up with Nadia Arzberger to beat Rena Liu and Allie Meng, 10-4.

“I just tried to be consistent, and tried to force errors,” said Chen, who is the No. 4  ranked player in the Mid-Atlantic region in the 16-and-under category. “I was a little nervous, but my team supported me and I got through the match. When you play individual tournaments, everyone is your enemy, but here, you have your whole team behind you.”

Despite the fact that Chen was clearly the best player on either team, Jefferson had the depth through its lineup to prevail. Steffie Pitts dominated in the No. 3 singles spot, winning 10-2, Nathalie Cheng delivered a 10-1 rout in the No. 4 position, and Schyler Pa came through with a 10-5 win in the No. 6 hole. 

In perhaps the most hard-fought match of the day, Jefferson’s No. 5 player, Stacey Zhou, outlasted Claire Ridgley 10-7 by varying her pace and using moon balls to wear her opponent down.  McLean’s only win that didn’t involve Chen was a very impressive 10-7 victory for Anna Pelak, McLean’s tenacious No. 2.

“TJ is known for having a strong team, from top to bottom,” Brough said. “The TJ players play year round- my lower players don’t play much in the winter, so they’re a little rusty this spring, but I still thought we did well under this kind of pressure.”

McLean’s next match is at home on Wednesday against South Lakes, a team which has no axe to grind, but could still present a serious challenge.