Hagel, Carlson finally complete quest to reach state tennis

The Medical Lake girls top doubles team not only rebounded from a second round loss, but also later earned a berth in the 1A state tennis tournament by dispatching a longtime nemesis.

Cassidy Hagel and Annette Carlson will represent the Cardinals in Friday, and hopefully Saturday competition at the Yakima Tennis Club after wins that included their come-from-behind 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 consolation finals victory May 23 at Mead High School over the Riverside sister act doubles team of Abby and Sydney Spray.

“What a great time to finally beat the Spray sisters,” Medical Lake co-head coach Dawn Eliassen said. “It felt really, really good to have them (Hagel and Carlson) finally finish the tournament with a win.”

However, it was a 6-4, 6-3 win over Christine Hannemann and Sarah Vesneske from Davenport in the first consolation round match that clinched the state berth.

“Finally! This is the third time that Cass and Annette have had a chance to earn a trip to state,” Eliassen said. “I definitely think the memory of last year’s disappointment helped motivate them to continue their aggressive play to push through in this one.”

The Cardinals’ other entrant on the girls’ side, Alyssa Fitzgerald, opened with a win in singles, defeating Lauren Senske from St. George’s 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in what Eliassen called, “A grueling three hours of well-played points.”

But Fitzgerald dropped her next two matches to wind up in a consolation round and finished with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Katie Francis from Deer Park. The win earned Fitzgerald a role as an alternate in singles play should any other qualifier not be able to compete.

“This was Alyssa’s most decisive win over Katie yet,” Eliassen said.

As with the girls, the Medical Lake boys had three players in districts, but their fate was not so fortunate. After going 1-2 to open the tournament, Austin Brown and Isiah Farmen survived to qualify for state as alternates in boys’ doubles. They lost a marathon 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 2-6 opener to St. Georges’ Kenneth Day and Michael Nord.

Brown and Farmen won by default over Reardan’s Anthony Sigismonti and Derek Strope in the alternate round and will play the wait and see game in Yakima.

“Overall, I’m extremely proud of Brown and Farmen,” co-head coach Jake Wesselman said. “These two had a great run this season and played their hearts out.”

Noah Ray split his first two matches, beating Nico Melber of Riverside 6-3, 6-3 before falling out of the tournament with back-to-back losses that gave the freshman a true taste of postseason.

“Noah had a great regional tournament,” Wesselman said. “He ended up not making it through to state, but he played great.”

The best part about Noah getting to regionals and playing this level of competition was that he is only a freshman and gets great experience for next year, Wesselman said.

“I was very proud of the fact that all six players were still in on day two of the tournament,” Eliassen said. “We had more players there than any of the other teams.”

Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].