Northwestern District Boys' Tennis Final

By WALT MOODY | The Winchester Star

May 17, 2018

WINCHESTER — The rain outside may have been pelting the roof at the Stonebrook Club on Thursday afternoon, but there was no cooling off Handley’s Jack Volinsky inside.

No one has done it for the bulk of three tennis seasons.

Volinsky ran his singles unbeaten streak to 62 matches as the Judges’ No. 1 player captured the Class 4 Northwestern District title with a 6-1, 6-0 triumph against James Wood’s Noah Borromeo.

Both players had already clinched Region 4C berths, which are scheduled for next week at Handley.

While he’s proud of the streak he has compiled after playing No. 5 as a freshman and No. 2 as a sophomore, Volinsky says he prefers not to dwell on it.

“It’s great, but it’s something I don’t like to think about,” he said. “It’s just a stat that’s there. It’s not something I really like to think about that much because I’m more focused on winning. It’s a lot of pressure to be honest. When I do actually think about it, it’s a lot of pressure.”

Pressure is what Volinsky likes to put on his opponents. His game is more vintage in that he uses his powerful serve, ground strokes and approach shots to work his way into the net and polish off points with a volley or an overhead.

While the score may not show it, Borromeo made Volinsky work for many of those opportunities, especially in the first set.

The very first game may have set the tone for the entire match. Serving, Borromeo took a quick 40-15 lead only to have Volinsky roar back with four straight points and win the game on an overhead.

“That’s pretty important — keeping your head and coming back in a game,” Volinsky said. “Winning points when somebody thought they had something, that always plays a big factor into momentum. It’s big in any match when that happens.”

Volinsky then ran off the next four games before Borromeo finally broke through against the Handley junior’s serve. In a game that featured a deuce, Borromeo forced a long forehand from Volinsky to secure the break.

“That was my goal,” Borromeo said of keeping the ball in play. “I did that in a couple of games, but I did not do it for all of them. Sometimes I was trying to be aggressive. The one that I won, I was just trying to keep balls in play and slow him down because he was playing really fast.”

Volinsky said it was the type of play he expected from the James Wood senior.

“He’s a consistent, good player and hits a fairly hard ball,” Volinsky said. “I have to do more. I have to come in and work for points.”

He did just that for the rest of the match. He closed out the first set with a service break and took control as Borromeo began to show some frustration in the second set.

“I don’t get mad that I lose,” Borromeo said. “I get mad that I don’t compete well enough. That’s really it.”

Volinsky needed about 20 minutes to polish off the set.

“I felt like I played well,” he said. “It’s nice to play indoors because going from outdoors and playing indoors it always feels a lot better. I felt like I was playing and hitting the ball well. I could have done better at finishing, but other than that I felt I was playing well.”

Borromeo, who defeated Millbrook’s Nathan Wiens 6-0, 6-2 in Wednesday’s semifinals, was happy to advance to regional play. He said he was playing in honor of former teammates (including last year’s No. 1 Evan Dokken who was at the match Thursday), current teammates, his younger brother Jonah (the Colonels’ No. 2 this season) and coach Bryan Levi.

He hopes to be competitive in regional play.

“I need to be more consistent and stop missing as many shots,” Borromeo said. “Hopefully I can pull something out there, but I’m just happy to be there at least.”

Volinsky has more work to do in the districts. He and teammate Mercer Love are the top seeds in the doubles, which has semifinal and final matches scheduled for today at Winchester County Club, beginning at 1 p.m.

“We love playing together,” Volinsky said of Love. “We have really good chemistry and it always works out. Especially when we’re challenged, we kind of thrive on that pressure situation.”

Handley also will be involved in regional team action next week. The Judges (17-0) host Heritage at 11 a.m. on Monday. That boys’ matchup will be followed by the Handley girls’ clash with Dominion at 2 p.m. Regional finals matches are slated for Wednesday.

The district girls’ individual matches continue today at Stonebrook. Defending champion Cecilia Cress of Millbrook takes on Handley’s Meredith Watts in the singles title match at 11 a.m. The doubles semifinals and finals will follow, starting at 1 p.m.

— Contact Walt Moody at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Follow on Twitter @WinStarSports1