Published: May 10, 2008 08:52 pm            

Two in a row

Brady, Warner repeat as state tennis champs

CHARLESTON — Imagine what Chad Brady could do if he played well.

Even though the Bluefield junior insisted his game wasn’t where it needed to be, Brady still claimed his second straight Class A/AA State Tennis singles title with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Matt Phillips of Charleston Catholic on Saturday morning at the Kanawha City Park courts.

“I really don’t think I did play well in all honesty,” Brady said. “I didn’t hit a ball clean the whole match, I might have hit three, I just played smart and positioned it well.”

Still, it was good enough for a second straight title, keeping Brady undefeated in two seasons at Bluefield.

“He made the comment that he didn’t think he was playing as well today, but even Chad not playing his best, he still can win, he’s just that good of a player,” Bluefield tennis coach Deb Sarver said. “He’s so nice on the court, not only is he a good tennis player, but he’s a gentleman on the court so that’s a good thing too.

“Thankfully, he won, I think we thought it would happen and it did.”

Brady wasn’t finished either. An hour or so after his singles win, Brady combined with senior Cory Warner for their second straight state doubles title with a 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) victory over the Charleston Catholic duo of Phillips and Tyler Whipkey.

After a first set win, the Bluefield duo fell behind 5-2 in the second. Apparently, Sarver’s husband and assistant coach, Pete, was right in his assessment.

“They were 5-2 down and Pete said, ‘We’ve got them right where we want them’ and he said, ‘They would win the next five’ and they came close to it,” Sarver said. “They didn’t win the next five, but they did win that set.

“They’re fun to watch. Both of them are terrific tennis players.”

That duo helped Bluefield (11 points) to a second place finish, trailing champion Charleston Catholic (20) and finishing ahead of Wheeling Central (8).

In girls action, Bluefield third seed Grace Sudduth — the lone Bluefield girl to reach the finals — dropped a 6-0, 6-1 decision to Charleston Catholic’s Alex Thomas. The Beavers (7), which won the team title last season, finished third, trailing champion Charleston Catholic (19) and Petersburg (15).

“The boys team can come back next year and be pretty strong still, but the girls team is tough because we lose about seniors,” Sarver said. “It was tough this year because of my four seniors, only one of them had played in the tournament last year.

“The 2, 3 and 4 positions, they didn’t have the tournament experience, but we had a good tournament. I think four years ago we were third and then second and then first and now we’re dropping down to third so we’re going to build back up again.”

Brady continued his dominance of West Virginia tennis. In two seasons, Brady — who transferred to Bluefield from Graham prior to his sophomore campaign — hasn’t lost a singles match in two seasons for the Beavers.

“I thought I was capable of it, but I didn’t think I would not lose a match in all honesty,” Brady said. “I figured I would lose here and there so it’s been a real thrill.”

In four state tournament matches, Brady lost just two five games, and was never really threatened on his way to the title. Obviously, Brady will return as the favorite to make it three in a row.

“I would think so,” Sarver said. “I think he’s the one everybody fears when they get to state, he speaks for himself out there on the court. He always comes through.”

Brady added: “That would be ideal, but when you win the title two years in a row, people start gunning for you. It doesn’t matter about anybody else, they gun for the person at the top.”

While Brady will return for another season, Warner is through with competitive tennis, electing to pursue a career in film at the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Warner and Brady are as different on the court as off, but that diversity seems to suit them just fine.

“He’s more the conservative player and I’m more the aggressive player, but it works to our advantage,” Warner said. “We had played a little bit together, but we had never played much doubles.

“When he came (to Bluefield), I knew we would be pretty good, but I didn’t think we would take two state championships so handily...We have fun out there too, we joke around and laugh and it’s always a good time.”

This duo had to work to win this one. After taking the opening set 6-4, a 5-2 deficit made it seem like a third set was on the horizon.

“It’s a lot of fun, to say the least, but that doubles match was quite an effort on both of our parts,” said Brady, whose lone doubles loss in two years was earlier this season to Class AAA power George Washington. “Even though we got down 5-2, we didn’t feel extremely pressured.

“We just felt like we made some errors and if we cut down on those, we would be fine.”

Warner added: “It feels great to win doubles for two years in a row. Being down 5-2 in the second set, that was kind of a bummer, but we just kind of put it together and clicked.”

The duo’s third win in two days made for an entertaining match, with the Beavers rallying to tie the score at 6-6. The tie-breaker also went to 6-6, but Bluefield scored the final two points, with the final tally being off a Brady serve which was returned wide of the lines.

“They complement each other, they’re two totally different personalities, but yet they both play a different game,” Sarver said. “One holds the other in if the other is not doing well and vice versa. They really just keep each other in the match. They’re really terrific to watch in doubles.”

The same can be said for the Bluefield tennis program, which continues to be a force in West Virginia.

“I look at Bluefield High School, the boys have won the states four times and the girls have won it once and that’s terrific,” Sarver said. “The great thing about the girls too is for the years that I have been here, we have been up in the top three, which is a lot to say with all the schools that participate.

“I think we always do well at state and we show ourselves well here when we play. This year was just a little tougher than last year, and the competition has been really, really good this year. I’ve seen a lot of good tennis players and I do believe a lot of them are going to be back next year.”

Brady plans to be one of those. He’s going to keep busy playing this summer, and hopes it eventually leads to a Division I tennis scholarship.

“That’s what I’m shooting for, that is what I would like to do,” Brady said. “Sometimes it doesn’t always work out how you want it to, but that’s what I would really like to do and I think I can still improve, that’s a very important thing,”

His next stop?

“I’m going to Disney World,” said Brady, with a laugh.

It would be a trip well-deserved.

—Contact Brian Woodson

at bwoodson@bdtonline.com

        

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