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UNDEFEATED TEAMS really de- serve more respect. When the 23-0 Tabb (Yorktown) High School Group AA/A girls field-hockey squad took the pitch against James Monroe in the championship game last weekend in Virginia Beach, the Tigers should have pranced to a crown. But the coronation turned into something more closely resembling a battle scene from "Braveheart," thanks to a Yellow Jacket team who thought they should win the state title.

James Monroe didn't, but it took Tabb all of regulation play and two overtimes to disabuse the Yellow Jackets, by a 3-2 score, of their pre-eminent ambitions. And no one could say that Tabb didn't know what to expect in the finals: Just 10 days earlier, JM, which finished with a 15-6-1 record, had taken the Tidewater team to another double OT before bowing 2-1. That must have left the Tigers praying: "No rematch. Please, no rematch."

If there is any consolation in the championship loss, especially to JM's 10 seniors, it is that they participated in a game for the ages, a contest that high-school field-hockey aficionados will talk about for decades and will feel honored just to have witnessed. Also, the Yellow Jackets' seasonal ascent--from fourth in the district to second in the state--testifies to the team's hard work and intelligent play under the inspired coaching of Jamie Tierney.

Field hockey doesn't get the hoopla that attends some high-school sports. Women's field hockey struggled for almost a century before making its Olympic debut in 1980. But it's a jewel of a sport when well-played. JM and Tabb just added a gem to the diadem.