JF girls No. 1 doubles tandem plays with power, precision

One hits with power, the other focuses on placement.

Together, Jefferson Forest’s No. 1 doubles team of Sarah Ranowsky and Meghan Canter complement one another to near perfection, as their undefeated record this season shows.

“Sarah’s more of a power hitter, not a finesse player,” Cavaliers coach Susan Ranowsky said. “She has a phenomenal serve. Meghan’s my consistent girl.”

“We play really well together,” Canter added.

On a team that doesn’t feature any serve and volleyers, the Cavaliers have been successful putting away opponents from the baseline in singles, and winning points at the net in doubles.

“That is my goal for everyone and the biggest thing I emphasize in practice — to finish points fast and don’t stay on the court any longer than you have to,” Susan Ranowsky said. “Don’t give up easy points, make your opponent work for every point, cut down on errors and put the ball away.”

Ranowsky, younger sister of Geoff and Josh Ranowsky, who starred on the boys tennis team over the past four seasons, said her game is similar to Geoff’s.

“I’m not ambidextrous (as he is), but I like to get the points over with and hit with power,” said Sarah, who has overcome a bout with mononucleosis that she was diagnosed with the week before spring break. “I’m not as consistent as Josh was. Josh was more of a thinking player. I do use some strategy.”

Though Susan Ranowsky refers to Sarah as her Barbie doll, she is as bright as any of her teammates on an extremely smart team.

Take No. 4 singles player Jane Oh, who like Ranowsky is a student at the Governor’s School at Heritage. She and her twin brother Peter just picked up tennis, and golf, two years ago after moving to Lynchburg from Taiwan as eighth graders.

“Jane taught herself how to play over the summer,” Sarah Ranowsky said. “She’s very coachable and always asking how she can improve. She does that in school, too. They’re (Jane and Peter) really motivated in whatever they decide to do.”

“He’s better than me and I’m learning from him,” added Oh, who has received a full presidential scholarship to attend Randolph-Macon College, where she will study pre-med with a double major in chemistry and biology.

Both siblings plan to play for the Yellow Jackets’ tennis team, which will turn Division I as a mid-major like Liberty and VMI in 2010.

Ranowsky could join the Oh twins and play tennis at R-MC or follow her brothers to West Point, where she will participate in a leadership seminar this summer.

Before then, she will try to lead the Cavaliers to their third consecutive district tournament title next Tuesday through Thursday at Heritage after clinching their ninth straight regular-season crown Thursday.

Canter, JF’s No. 1 seed, slipped to 6-2 in singles with a loss to Liberty’s Liza Mackey on Thursday, but the Cavaliers’ Nos. 2, 3 and 4 singles players, Brooke Hutchison, Ranowsky and Oh, are all undefeated.

This season’s rain prevented the Cavaliers from getting enough challenge matches in to determine who should be their No. 1 singles seed so Ranowsky, a junior who played No. 2 last year, deferred to seniors Canter, who played No. 3, and Hutchison, who was No. 5, after all three went 1-1 in head-to-head challenge matches.

“The weather has been so awful, we’ve only had seven days of practice all season,” Susan Ranowsky said before the Cavaliers played their ninth match against Liberty, the one team they’d yet to face.

Over the past three seasons, Canter has played No. 1 doubles with four different partners, starting with Casey Engledove as a sophomore, Morgan Huff last season and Brooke Hutchison and Ranowsky this spring.

“I play well with Brooke, too,” Canter said, noting the two will pair up for the Seminole team tournament at Heritage before she and Ranowsky team up in the district’s individual doubles tournament.