STATE EXTRA: Now a reality

FISHERSVILLE
When the four seniors on the Wilson tennis team watched former Hornet Maryanne Thompson play in the Group A individual tournament four years ago, they set a goal for themselves — by their senior year they too would prove themselves at that level.

Now, in 2009, they’ve made that dream a reality and on Friday they will play the Region A champion Middlesex at Radford University in the Group A team semifinals.

“They’ve stayed dedicated,” said coach Seth Lovell. “They’ve continually worked to improve.”

The first season these girls played together, they didn’t even advance to the district tournament. After battling to make it to districts the first year, then regionals the next, now finally, as the capstone to their high school tennis careers, the Green Hornets get a shot at the state tournament.

“This has been our goal since freshman year,” Jamie Stark said. “It’s a good way to go out.”

“Finally, all our hard work has paid off,” Kala Guy said.

“It’s been good seeing each other’s progress,” Christine Coffield said. “We’ve been working for a long time.”

But what makes the seniors special isn’t the fact that they have three undefeated seasons in the district, or the fact that within district play they didn’t give up a single game this season. No, the spark they have, both on and off the field, comes from the fact that these girls have built more than a team — they’ve built friendships. They aren’t just a team that sees one another only during the season — they play together in the off-season, too, often meeting at AMC to play together.

“We’re just really, really good friends,” Stark said.

“They set an example for the younger girls on the team,” Lovell said. “They’re good, well-rounded athletes. The type you want to see succeed.”

But will they?

“We definitely have the talent,” Coffield said. She said the Wilson team will be hard to beat because the skill level doesn’t drop after No. 1 or No. 2.

“I think we’re physically ready, but a lot of it is mental,” Guy said. “It’s a new environment, a new atmosphere. It’ll be an eye-opener.”

The higher scale of play, and even of the surroundings, caught Guy a little off guard as she went to the state tournament for volleyball earlier this year.

Each girl, though, aside from practicing with the team, must get herself mentally prepared to go against anything. For Amanda Gorby, there’s almost a certain recipe for how to psych herself out — the night before, she’ll eat spaghetti, drink lots of water and listen to music that can pump her up.

“I keep jumping up and down on the court to keep myself psyched up,” Gorby said. “If I lose my adrenaline rush, I’m done.”

Although she knows her team has what it takes to advance past Middlesex, Gorby doesn’t think that the match will be a blowout on either side.

“Our goal is not to go in overly confident,” Stark said. “[We need to] go in ready to win, like we did versus George Mason.”

“They have the ability to stay cool and collected,” Lovell said. “They know how to handle the environment. They don’t get rattled very easily. I feel like we’re prepared.”