Glenvar boys survive epic Group AA state tennis semifinal 

Three of the top six players on Glenvar's boys tennis team graduated from high school Friday night.

The trio -- No. 2 Colton Walls, No. 3 Alex Dunkenberger and No. 6 Bryce Mallette -- passed their rehearsal earlier in the day with flying colors, leading the Highlanders to a 5-1 victory over Windsor in the Group A state semifinals at Sun Tennis Center on Starkey Road.

Glenvar will play for the state title against George Mason Saturday morning at 9 a.m. at Radford University. George Mason beat Gate City 5-1 in the other semifinal.

Friday's semifinals were moved to Roanoke in anticipation of a heavy rain forecast. Sun Tennis has two indoor courts, and one of them was in use until 10 a.m. Consequently, the Glenvar-Windsor match ran 5 ½ hours.

When the Highlanders No. 1 player, Igor Ponjavic, dispatched Windsor's Kyle Hollowell 6-2, 6-2 and Walls and Dunkenberger breezed past Ethan Bales and Cody Reese, respectively, by combining to win 24 of 28 games, it appeared the match would be decided fairly quickly.

But the Dukes' No. 5 player, Derek Klausmeier, upended Highlanders freshman Nick Peters 6-1, 6-4 and Derek's twin, No. 4 Dan Klausmeier, took Tyler Dishner to three sets, before the Glenvar sophomore prevailed 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).

Following Derek Klausmeier's win, Mallette took court No. 2 and dumped Stephen Hurst 6-2, 6-3, giving Glenvar a 4-1 advantage. When left-handed Dan Klausmeier won his first set 6-4 and took a 4-1 lead in the second, it seemed likely that the doubles matches would come into play. Since VHSL rules require a 30-minute rest for players competing in singles and doubles, it appeared the marathon match could extend into the evening.

But Dishner rallied to make doubles play moot.

"I'm not going to lie, I was tired," said Dishner, who staged rally after rally that went 15-20 hits. Dishner and Dan Klausmeier engaged a defensive strategy and their match lasted three hours. Dishner fought off four match points before winning the last three games.

"Every tie-breaker is nerve-wracking," Dishner said.

Glenvar coach Mark Rohrback, who has earned a state title coaching volleyball and led the Highlanders tennis team to a runner-up finish to state champion George Mason in 2012, did not tak e Windsor for granted. "When I saw they upset Rappahannock, who played in the state tournament last year, I knew they'd be good," he said.

Rohrback thought Dunkenberger "played the match of the year," winning 12 of his 13 games. Dunkenberger made a few errors on overheads but the rest of his game was nearly flawless.

"It was good to see Colton and Alex play well today," Rohrback said. Because of rescheduling due to weather concerns, Walls and Dunkenberger played their doubles semifinals on Thursday, a day earlier than they had anticipated, and were drilled in straight sets.

Glenvar will be on the courts again Saturday morning, just a few short hours after graduation. Rohrback said he was not worried about his seniors staying up too late Friday.

"The state championship match is more important to them than it is to me," he said.

Glenvar 5, Windsor 1

Igor Ponjavic (G) def. Kyle Hollowell 6-2, 6-2; Colton Walls (G) def. Ethan Bales 6-2, 6-1; Alex Dunkenberger (G) def. Cody Reese 6-0, 6-1; Tyler Dishner (G) def. Dan Klausmeier 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5); Derek Klausmeier (W) def. Nick Peters 6-1, 6-4; Bryce Mallette (G) def. Stephen Hurst 6-2, 6-3.

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