NORFOLK 

Chip, chip. 

Bang, bang. 

Different styles, same result. 

Maury’s Kyle Moore used a devastating backhand slice to chop down top-seeded Justin Smith of Norview 6-4, 7-5 in the Eastern District boys tennis final Friday at Norview. 

Meanwhile, on an adjacent court, Granby’s Ashley Foster blasted winner upon winner and held Maury’s Jacqueline Tynes without a game in an emphatic defense of her district girls singles crown. 

And so concluded what over the past few years can fairly be described as the Foster Invitational. Last year’s final also featured Foster overpowering Tynes in straight sets. And in the 2006 championship match, Foster fell to older sister Brittany in what is believed to be the league’s first-ever sibling vs. sibling title match. 

Still, Ashley Foster credited a third member of the family with helping her produce Friday’s success. 

’’I was getting really nervous thinking about it, but then my dad called me at school this morning,’’ she said. '’He told me not to worry about it, that he loved me no matter what. I was OK after that.’’ 

The Comet senior’s only hiccup came in Friday’s semifinals, where she dropped a set to Granby’s field hockey star-turned-tennis ace Leah Zamesnik. But Foster recovered to take the deciding set 6-0. 

It was more of the same against Tynes. Playing as though she had a plane to catch, Foster needed less than an hour to overpower Tynes’ serves and groundstrokes in a devastating display of power tennis. 

’’It’s my senior year, and I really wanted this,’’ said Foster, who will play for Virginia State next fall. 

Norview’s Smith is also headed to Virginia State, and his strong serve and attacking style should adapt well to the college game. What he needed Friday was a bit more consistency, however, given the variety of spins conjured up by the counter-punching Moore. 

The Maury junior used his slice backhand to maneuver Smith from side to side or up and back, and even used it to thread passing shots. 

’’It’s funny, because I didn’t feel like I had the backhand working today,’’ he said. '’But I guess it was.’’ 

Most importantly, Moore saves his headiest tennis for the most crucial points. Down 4-3 in the first set, the Commodores’ ace outdueled an increasingly erratic Smith to take the next three games. 

Then, after double-faulting on break point to fall behind 5-4 in the second set, Moore pulled it together again and strung together another three-game run for the title. 

All four finalists will advance to the Eastern Region tournament May 19-20 at Huntington Park. In the boys bracket, Moore will face Southeastern District runner-up Bobby Kostinas of Western Branch and Smith will take on Southeastern champion Josh Lee of Western Branch. 

In girls action, Foster will face Southeastern runner-up Margaret Moore of Western Branch while Tynes tackles Southeastern champion Hannah Hill of Western Branch.

See a Photo Gallery from the tournament [1]