CHARLESTON -- Day 2 was a tough one for most area athletes at the state tennis tournament.
Only Bridgeport's Kenan Bell in the No. 2 singles and the No. 1 doubles team of Bell and Tommy Joyce advanced to today's championship finals. The state tournament concludes at the Laidley Field courts.
Bell shut out Oak Hill's Brad Berry, 6-0, 6-0, to reach this morning's championships match against Charleston Catholic's Shane Hutton, a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 winner over Bluefield's Doss Howell.
Bell and Joyce were nearly as dominant, rolling to a 6-4, 6-0 semifinal victory. They will face Hutton and Drew College, who ousted Joyce in the No. 1 singles semifinals.
"Our doubles group is the best," Bridgeport coach Lori Joyce said. "I feel they'll do fine tomorrow.
"(Tommy) ran into a real good player, and he just couldn't quite get it together. He played much better in his doubles than his singles. I'm sure he put a lot of pressure on himself (in singles). When he played doubles he took care of business."
In Class AA-A boys, Joyce and teammates Brian Berry (No. 3 singles) and the doubles team of Dusty Poster and Berry (No. 2) fell in the semifinals.
In Class AA-A girls, Grafton's Jennifer Teagarden and Jennifer Byers lost in the No. 1 doubles quarterfinals, and teammates Karli Snyder and Jennifer Hartwell lost in the No. 3 doubles semifinals.
Bell plays for the No. 2 title at 8:30 a.m.; Bell and Joyce begin play at noon.
In the team races, Charleston Catholic's boys lead Bluefield 14-13. Bridgeport is third with nine points. Catholic also leads Bluefield, 14-7, in the girls race.