Forest’s Ranowsky falls in Region III singles

Chris Humphreys
Published: May 28, 2008

Jefferson Forest senior Josh Ranowsky came up just short in Wednesday’s Region III boys’ singles tennis tournament against Rockbridge County’s Dominik Lehmann.
Ranowsky took the first set 7-5 but Lehmann rallied to win the second set, 6-3, and the third, 6-4.
“(Lehmann) was really tough,” Ranowsky said. “He was consistent and made you beat him. I was doing all the right things, I was just missing.”
Lehmann is a foreign exchange student from Leipzig, Germany.
“Yeah, (I felt I played well today) and I had a really great opponent,” said Lehmann. “I am looking forward to some good matches (in next week’s state tournament) and hopefully I can win one.”
Ranowsky finished the season with a 17-1 singles record and hopes to play on West Point’s tennis team with his older brother Geoff, who graduated from Jefferson Forest in 2007.
Geoff spent this past year at Virginia Military Academy.
“He had a great season,” said Cavaliers coach Susan Ranowsky. “He hadn’t lost until today.
“It was very close today. He played his butt off.”
Wednesday’s match was scheduled for 2 p.m. at Heritage High School but was moved indoors to the Sports Racket due the rain.
The Region III boy’s doubles semifinals and finals, which were scheduled to follow Wednesday’s match, were postponed until today at 3:30 p.m. at Heritage, where Ranowsky will team with senior Tyler Johnston.
“Hopefully we can make it to (the state tournament),” Josh said. “We’re a pretty good doubles team and I think we can make it. I just have to focus on that.”