Doubles Godwin's Game

by Stephen M. Lewis
DigitalSports Richmond
slewis@digitalsports.com

Any good tennis coach will tell you how important doubles are.

Mills Godwin's Tom Hoy is a good tennis coach.

"We start from Day One working doubles," said Hoy, who added that after a player challenges another in singles, they team up with that person to play doubles. "We've always prided ourselves in doubles.

"If we can get to three all or 4-2, we feel good about our doubles."

Godwin needed every bit of it Thursday evening to defeat Deep Run 5-3 in the Central Region boys tennis final at Raintree Swim and Racquet Club.

Both teams will advance to the state Group AAA quarterfinals on May 27.

No one's sure of how many consecutive state appearances Godwin has made, though retiring AD Bill Browning has been at it 17 years and can't remember a Godwin squad not in the state tournament.

The Eagles earn a state home game as the two powerhouses split their singles matches at three apiece leaving doubles to decide the match.

Top duo Kyle Parker and Kevin Calhoun rolled over Eric Shulman and Glenn Diersen 6-1, 6-4 to put Godwin ahead 4-3.

Then Nathan Wood and Mike Baxter won at No. 3 doubles 6-3, 6-4, but not before precipitation came through and knocked the match indoors, making both teams adjust.

Deep Run's Jake Fratkin and Phillip Mosberg weren't going away easily.

"When they won that game, I was kind of like, 'Aww man, we have to win another game,' " Wood said. "And then we came inside and they won another game to make it 5-4. But then we had Michael's serve so then I knew we were going to take it."

Said Baxter: "I don't know. It was clicking. Once we knew, we came in here and we like the court."

Godwin got things going early with Parker over Shulman 6-1, 6-3 in a surprisingly comfortable win as both players have been playing in two tournaments, including the Davenport City Tennis Championships.

Wood topped Mosberg 6-3, 6-0, but Diersen countered at No. 6 with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Baxter to pull Deep Run within one.

Not long after, Deep Run's Hunter Koontz finished off Kevin McMillen at No. 2 to tie the contest, but Calhoun struck back with a win at No. 4 over Fratkin, 6-4, 6-1.

Then came the match of the evening at No. 3, featuring Deep Run's tough freshman Evan Charles and Godwin's savvy Edgar Vitkovski.

The players split the first two sets, each winning 6-2. Vitkovski grabbed all of the momentum and emotion, going up 5-3 in the third.

But Charles fought off two match points, including one extremely long rally that had everyone on the edge of their seats.

"Both Hunter and Evan, they described to me what they were going to change [from the last Godwin match]," Deep Run coach Salman Parvaiz said. "And they were able to apply it."

Charles fought back to force a tiebreak and won it 7-3 to set up Godwin's doubles dominance.

"From the last time we played Godwin, we improved this time," Parvaiz said. "That was our goal. The boys have never gotten out of the district. This is huge."

Singles: Parker (MG) d. Shulman 6-1, 6-3; Koontz (DR) d. McMillen 6-2, 6-3; Charles (DR) d. Vitkovski 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (7-3); Calhoun (MG) d. Fratkin 6-4, 6-1; Wood (MG) d. Mosberg 6-3, 6-0; Diersen (DR) d. Baxter 6-3, 6-2
Doubles: Parker-Calhoun (MG) d. Shulman-Diersen 6-1, 6-4; Wood-Baxter (MG) d. Fratkin-Mosberg 6-3, 6-4