Richmond - Capital District Finals

by Stephen M. Lewis
DigitalSports Richmond

Nobody ever wants to work double duty.

Don't tell that to Hanover's Jacob Bean and Atlee's Shao-Ching Tu.

Bean and Tu claimed two titles Thursday, one in singles and one in doubles, at the Capital District finals at Burkwood Swim and Racquet Club in Hanover.

Let's start with Bean.

The junior won his singles crown 6-0, 6-1 over Shaowei Tu, Shao-Ching's older brother.

Shaowei could never get a rhythm making plenty of uncharacteristic errors, while Bean was nearly flawless.

"I thought I played pretty well," Bean said. "I've seen him play the last two days in the tournament and he's been playing really well. So I knew that I would have to play really consistent and I did that. I don't think I missed a backhand the whole match and that's what I had to do."

Fortunately for Bean and unfortunately for Shaowei, the singles play carried over to doubles.

Bean, with freshman mate Kevin Hetzer, took the first set 6-3 as Shaowei and teammate Eric Smith were obviously flustered.

The Raider duo rebounded in the second set, holding two serves at 5-4 and 6-5 to force a tiebreak.

But it was all Hanover, as the Hawks won it 7-1 to claim doubles supremacy in the Capital, avenging a previous loss to the Raiders.

"We knew that was crucial because we didn't want to go to a third set," Bean said. "We just got out to a great start. Kevin had a good serve to start off the tiebreak. I hit a couple of good volleys and we just played consistent from the baseline."

Atlee Rules

Shao-Ching Tu and her blistering strokes were too much Thursday, even for her teammate.

First, she teamed up with Rebekah Ferguson to knockout Hanover's Nicole Holler and Kaitlyn Whitaker 7-5, 6-0 in doubles.

The Raiders' teamwork was impeccable and net play was just too tough.

"This is the first year that we've played together," Ferguson said. "We're ready for regionals and we're hoping we'll go all the way."

They'll both play singles in the regionals, too. But Shao-Ching will have the higher seed after delivering a 6-3, 6-1 victory for the singles medal.

The sophomore dropped a quick break to Ferguson to start the match before gaining control, going ahead 3-2 and cruising from there.

Shao-Ching broke Ferguson twice and held her serve twice for a 4-0 advantage in the second set before claiming her first district title.

"Rebekah came out here and she played really well at first. She was on fire," Shao-Ching said. "But then I caught on again. It feels really good."

All four teams and singles players advance to the Central Region tournament.