By JONATHAN HUNLEY
For the Stafford County Sun
Published: May 1, 2008

STAFFORD — After her son had won the first point of his doubles match against Stafford High School on Tuesday, a proud Lydia Ackermann clapped and hollered, “Good job, guys.”

It wasn’t an unusual response from a doting parent. But it stood out because it came as such a contrast to the subdued, almost emotionless flow of the tennis of Brendon Ackermann and Ben Hemenway as they dismantled their opponents’ game.

“They’re both very quiet when they play, really,” Lydia Ackermann would say after the match.

Unfortunately for those who have looked across the net at them, though, that restrained focus has proven a winning game plan as the Mountain View High School duo ended the regular season as the No. 1 doubles team in the Commonwealth District. They now move on to the Northwest Region tournament at
E.C. Glass High School in Lynchburg on May 21.

That they would want to play together at all, much less find such success, is a testament to the good-natured attitudes of the Mountain View juniors.

When the season began, the 16-year-old Hemenway was the No. 1 singles player on the team. But he said he felt lots of pressure in the top spot and started to lose to players he should have been defeating.

So the Wildcats’ No. 2 player decided he would challenge Hemenway for the top spot. And, after winning two out of three sets in practice, that racket man - his doubles partner, Ackermann — claimed No. 1 in late March, dropping Hemenway to No. 2.

Such a situation could be the death knell for team unity — especially when it involves young players — but Mountain View coach Rick Bradley said that hasn’t happened with his team.

“The change has not caused great havoc as far as I can tell,” he said.

Indeed. Since then, the boys have thrived in their new singles positions. And Hemenway put it mildly when he said, “It really didn’t affect our doubles play.” The pair ended the regular season with a 13-1 record in the district.

In addition, if a team’s achievement depends on its members complementing each other, the winning ways of Hemenway and Ackermann make sense.

To wit: Hemenway grew up in Stafford; Ackermann moved here from Virginia Beach when his dad, then on active duty with the Navy, got a new assignment.

Hemenway has been playing tennis since he was 8; Ackermann switched from soccer when he arrived at Mountain View last year from Princess Anne High School.

Hemenway has taken tennis lessons at the University of Mary Washington; Ackermann has had no formal training.

Hemenway concentrates on tennis year-round; Ackermann swims and runs cross country for Mountain View.

They even look dramatically different: Hemenway has dirty blond hair and sports a tan; Ackermann has a fair complexion with red hair and freckles.

Their lives intersect, though, with education. Both noted that academics fills a lot of their time off the court, with Hemenway in the International Baccalaureate program and Ackermann taking Advanced Placement classes. Both are also interested in attending the University of Virginia in Charlottesville when their time at Mountain View is done.

And, of course, they share a love of tennis. The 17-year-old Ackermann said he favors tennis over his old spring sport of soccer because of its individual nature. In soccer, it’s hard for one player to make an impact, he said. But now he never has more than one teammate on the court with him at any one time.
“Tennis is more of a personal sport,” he said. “You know, you mess up on the court and you have to fix it yourself.”

Messing up, however, is not something that Ackermann and Hemenway have done much of this year, whether they’ve been playing together — or apart.

Jonathan Hunley is a contributing writer at the Stafford County Sun. Reach him at .