Smedleys qualify for tennis regionals

The Cheney High boys and girls tennis teams will each be sending one player to regionals in Ephrata, May 23, and both of their last names are Smedley.

Ryan Smedley finished second in the boys' singles bracket at the Great Northern League districts, May 15, in Pullman. His sister Katelynn Smedley placed second in the girls' singles bracket while her teammate Bridget Calvert, in her first appearance in districts, finished third. In team scores, the Cheney boys finished fourth out of five teams with 12 points. The girls tied with Pullman for second place with 26 points.

After a first-round bye, Ryan Smedley defeated Pullman's Charles Pezeshki (6-1, 6-1) to advance to the semifinals where he lost to tournament champion Clarkston's Don Arsenev (7-5, 6-4). He rebounded from the loss and won matches against Clarkston's Taylor Howard (7-6, 6-0) and West Valley's Cameron Connor (6-0, 6-2).

"After that first set (against Howard), Ryan started to pick up steam and became much more aggressive," boys head coach Jesse Erickson said. "It was the best I've seen him play all season. I'm excited he's going to regionals."

Ryan Axtell was eliminated in the first round of the tournament after losing to Howard (7-6, 6-0). Britton Williams lost his first-round match against Connor (6-1, 6-0).

In doubles, JT Gould and Brandon Foster defeated East Valley's Gage Edens and Garrett Crothers (6-0, 6-0) before losing to Clarkston's Gregory Arthur and Colby Savage (6-2, 6-3).

Shogo Starr and Adam Passey lost their opening match to Pullman's Sean Barrington and Dru Holmbo (6-2, 7-6). Ben Sanchez and Luke Huguenin lost their first-round match to tournament champions Pullman's Jacob Weirich and Curtis Jeffery (6-1, 6-2).

"We had some tough first-round draws," Erickson said. "Our guys played well and I'm really proud of them and of this season."

Ryan Smedley and Axtell received all-league honors.

After a first-round bye, Katelynn Smedley defeated Pullman's Jackie McAleer (6-3, 6-2), then shut out Clarkston's Amy Nigro (6-0, 6-0). After she lost a close match to Clarkston's Paige Rohrbach in the championship round (6-4, 6-4), she defeated teammate Bridget Calvert (6-0, 6-2) to earn the second regional spot.

Before facing Smedley, Calvert had back-to-back wins against Pullman players Priscilla Chaing (6-1, 6-4) and Maddie Kasimanickam (6-4, 6-3), then lost to Rohrbach (6-1, 6-1) in the semifinals.

Emily Howard was eliminated in the first round of the tournament after losing to East Valley's Shalyn Stack (6-2, 6-1).

Cheney's girls doubles teams also enjoyed some success.

Sadie Knutson and Shayna Payne defeated East Valley's Kate Pointer and Jessica Fraser (6-1, 6-1), then lost their second-round match against Pullman's Alexa Yamada and Lizzie George (6-0, 6-0).

Grace Pohl and Linsay Sweitzer defeated East Valley's Kessika Toombs and Nicole Richards (6-3, 6-2). In the next round they lost to Pullman's Brook Robinson and Anna D'Acosta (4-6, 6-0, 6-2).

Kaitlyn Sweeney and Leanna Eik lost their first-round match against Clarkston's Rachel Belanger and Jaclyn Meyers (6-1, 6-1).

"The doubles teams were the toughest I have seen in a long time, they all did very well," girls head coach Jason Overland said. "I am so happy for our seniors who got one last crack at districts."

Katelynn Smedley and Calvert received all-league honors.

Al Stover can be reached at [email protected].