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[Sonny Dearth]

Warwick's Slattery to face Northern Va. star in girls final;
Deep Run's Koontz, Stonewall's Davis to play for boys title

Warwick freshman Maureen Slattery continued her dizzying pace of first-year high school tennis success Friday morning in Fairfax.
Slattery, playing her first Virginia High School League state tournament, defeated Albemarle's Meg Napolitano 6-4, 6-1 on a hard court at Jefferson District Park to advance to Saturday morning's Group AAA championship match.
For the first time this season, she'll find herself as the underdog. In a 9 a.m. showdown, Slattery will face Emily Flickinger of Northern Virginia's Yorktown High, who dominated Longwood University-bound senior Nicole Parker of Mills Godwin 6-1, 6-0.
Slattery led 5-2 in the first set, dropped the next two games, then took command as Menchville boys players Graham Wilson and Jake Fields, who played in the tournament Friday, supported her.
"Meg played very well and she's a very good player," Slattery said. "After the first set, I realized that I needed to come in to the net more."
Slattery has not lost a singles set through the Peninsula District regular season and tournament, the Eastern Region playoffs and the first two rounds of state.
Now she'll face Flickinger, who has a similar ledger in the Northern Region.
They met each other about two weeks ago in the final of a Mid-Atlantic Section Challenger event in Charlottesville, after Flickinger beat Newport News' Taylor Wingo 6-2, 6-2 in a semifinal.
Flickinger won that match 6-0, 6-0, with Slattery suffering from a severe migraine headache and making numerous unforced errors. Saturday's match figures to be far closer.
"I'm very nervous and excited and happy to be in the final," Slattery said.
In doubles, Flickinger and Esu Erdenebat defeated First Colonial's Shannon Hudson and Rachel Luke 6-4, 6-4 to earn a spot in Saturday's 1 p.m. final against Parker and freshman Kelly Stewart. The Godwin tandem handled Napolitano and Abby Lesnoff 6-4, 6-0.

BOYS
In the boys AAA semis, also at Jefferson District Park, Deep Run junior Hunter Koontz and Stonewall Jackson senior Jimmy Davis won in straight sets to reach Saturday's final, which also is set for 9 a.m.
Koontz beat Edwin Zhang of Alexandria's Thomas Jefferson 6-3, 6-2. Davis, who lives in Manassas, overcame Herndon's Phillip Nelson 7-5, 6-2 a day after Nelson had bounced Eastern Region champion Graham Wilson of Menchville.
Koontz had beaten Zhang in a three-setter during Deep Run's 5-2 victory Saturday for the team championship at Huntington Park but had less trouble Friday.
Davis, bound for Longwood, and Koontz both are first-time state finalists.
Koontz will take the court Saturday with an opportunity for a triple crown -- winning the singles and being part of the championship team and doubles pairing.
He and Evan Charles bounced Davis and Houston Ward 6-3, 6-0 and will face Zhang and Spencer Clark at 1 p.m. Saturday. The Jefferson pair won 6-0, 6-3 against Loudoun Valley's Noah Fenton and Brandon DeLeonardis, who had ousted Wilson and Fields the previous day.