Westfield Tennis Fights Hard Against Oakton

Westfield tennis coach Stephen Lombard has had anything but a linear career progression. He majored in math and economics, then went to culinary school before embarking on a career in hotel management that would take him to Texas, Baltimore, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, and Hong Kong.  The only constant during these peripatetic years before he embarked on a teaching career was tennis. Everywhere he went the game went with him.

Lombard makes all of his players read a book called “Winning Ugly” by Brad Gilbert, but stresses the fact that tennis is a sport to be enjoyed for a lifetime, win or lose. And so, despite the fact that they lost 8-1 to Oakton (8-0) on Tuesday, neither Lombard, nor his team were hanging their heads.

“Very few people have an opportunity to make a living playing tennis,” he said. “And so, what I want to instill in the girls is a love for the sport, because it’s something that you can enjoy throughout your lifetime.”

A stiff breeze and unseasonably warm temperatures made each match an adventure, as players struggled to adapt to the conditions, but Oakton, having already beaten Westfield 9-0 earlier in the season, didn’t let the trying weather unnerve them, as they swept the three doubles matches and won five of the six singles encounters.

Oakton’s sophomore sensation Katie Clark, who is undefeated this year in singles and also boasts a 4.2 GPA, was the first off court, winning the #1 singles match in a rout, 10-0, over Westfield junior Emily Hu.

Clark won the District singles title last year, and is ranked amongst the top 70 juniors in the Mid-Atlantic region. She also teamed with Oakton’s number two, Alina Suyama, to win last year’s district doubles title. Suyama also made short work of her opponent, Emily Sun, in the #2 spot, with a 10-1 win that extended her singles winning streak to 20 matches, dating back to 2009, her freshman year.

Westfield scored its sole win of the day when Luisa Lacsamana upset Alexis Klein 10-6 in the 3^rdsingles spot. Lacsamana, who was born in the Philippines and inherited her love of tennis from her dad, used the wind to her advantage, varying her pace, lobbing early and often, and remaining maddeningly consistent from the baseline.

“My strategy was pretty simple,” Lacsamana said, after getting a round of hugs from her supportive teammates. “When I was playing against the wind, I hit it hard, and when I was playing with the wind, I hit it soft. It worked.”

Rachel Schwartz and Annalise Capalbo posted wins (10-5, and 10-6) in the #4 and #6 singles positions, before all eyes turned to the match of the day between Oakton senior Mary Beth Schmitt, and Westfield sophomore Jenny Chau in the #5 spot.

With the match deadlocked at 9-9, the players appeared to be headed toward a decisive tiebreak. Schmitt looked tired, but somehow found an extra gear, breaking Chau’s serve at 10-9 to ice the match, and the win for her team, 11-9.  

With the match secured, and with a critical rematch with Robinson coming up on Wednesday, Henry decided to rest his top players, but Oakton swept the three doubles matches nonetheless, to secure the 8-1 victory.

Westfield will face Centreville at home on Wednesday, as they hope to secure their fourth win of the day.