PHOTO BY BRIAN HOFFMAN
Salem and Glenvar will have players in Virginia High School League state tennis singles tournaments this week. Drew Perez and Claire Rawlins will represent Salem in Class 4 tournaments while Alec McIlwain of Glenvar will be in the Class 2 tournament.
Perez, the defending Class 4 state singles champion, will play his first match on Friday at 9 am against Charles Aractingi of Jamestown at Huntington Park in Newport News, VA. Neel Pasunuri of Broad Run and Jamison Wallace of Powhatan are in the other semifinal, and the championship will be Saturday at 9 am. Perez played Jamison, a Christopher Newport commit, in the semifinals last year and Drew won in a close match.
Claire will open with Mikayla Hogue of Jamestown in her state singles semifinal, also at Huntington Park. The other bracket has Izzy Rotaru of Broad Run against Marina Le of Atlee. Like the boys, semifinals are at 9 am Friday and the championship is at 9 am Saturday.
“Izzy Rotaru is the defending champ and will likely get to the finals,” said Salem High girls’ coach Jill Perez. “She is a tournament player and is likely as strong as Ana Maria Rincon from PH, or slightly stronger. So, whoever gets to the final will have their hands full with Izzy.”
Glenvar’s McIwain will play at Liberty University in Lynchburg. He’ll draw Christoph Schweitzer of Bruton for his semifinal at 9 am Friday. The championship is 9 am Saturday and the other bracket has Jack Clem of Richlands against Brady Barr of Central-Wise.
“This is the toughest singles bracket I have ever seen at Class 2,” said Glenvar coach Bob Haynie. “Chistoph was a state finalist last year. If Alec wins, he likely will face the two-time defending state champion from Richlands, Jack Clem, who beat Alec in the state finals in 2023 and Schweitzer last year. Alec didn’t get to compete last year due to an injury right before regions. I know Alec is going to give it his best effort.”
