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[Sonny Dearth]

Mittmann, Mee, DeMello all beaten in state singles semis


It was a rough Thursday morning for the southeastern Virginia tennis players competing in the state singles semifinals at Radford University.
Both Region I champions are from the Bay Rivers District, and both had the rotational misfortune of being paired against defending state champions for their semis.
In girls play, Kristin Harter of Roanoke's Hidden Valley High scored a 6-0, 6-3 win over Bruton's Helen Mittmann, handing the Panthers' senior star her only singles defeat of the season.
Harter then fell 6-2, 6-3 to Sarah Moomau of Winchester's Handley High in the final. Earlier, Moomau beat 2009 runner-up Jessica Miller of Stuarts Draft 6-2, 6-0.
Jamestown's girls are awaiting Friday's 9 a.m. team semifinal on the Radford courts against E.C. Glass of Lynchburg, which dropped down this school year from Group AAA.

BOYS AA
Patrick O'Keefe of the Salem Spartans captured his third consecutive singles crown. The Roanoke-area star rolled past Jamestown senior Elliot Mee 6-0, 6-2 in a semifinal, then breezed past Cam Scot of Western Albemarle 6-0, 6-1 for the championship.
It was the second time in three seasons that O'Keefe overcame Mee at state. O'Keefe beat him in the 2008 final.
Scot outplayed E.C. Glass' Derek Gale 6-4, 7-5 in a semifinal but was no match for O'Keefe. Then again, who was?
"I don't think we've got enough to make this kid use second gear," Jamestown coach Bob Artis said of the state's AA players besides O'Keefe. "He looks like he's cruising in first gear.
"Every time Elliot hit something that he thought was good, not only did he touch it, he hit it for a winner. Elliot was working his butt off to get to deuce."
Mee and his fellow Eagles now can concentrate on the team competition, which starts at 9 a.m. Friday at Virginia Tech. Mee likely will face Gale at No. 1 as part of the Jamestown-E.C. Glass semifinal matchup, then will play in a doubles semifinal alongside Miles Neilson against a pairing from Western Albemarle. The other team semi pits defending champion Western Albemarle against Hidden Valley.
"I think we're going to be very, very competitive," Artis said. "I think if the boys bring their 'A' game, we'll be fine. There are four quality teams, and anybody can win it. That's what we trained for, right here."


GROUP A
In a state Group A boys semifinal, Windsor standout Dustan DeMello was competitive but lost 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 to Wesley Fletcher of Bristol's Virginia High.
DeMello ended up being the tougher opponent for Fletcher, who won 6-3, 6-1 in the final against Radford's Jeff Brooks. Brooks had breezed past George Mason's Kan Tagami 6-1, 6-0 in the morning.