Medical Lake's Noah Ray qualifies for state tennis

Medical Lake senior tennis player Noah Ray will close out his noteworthy career with his third trip to the state tournament following his second-place finish last week at the District 7 tournament at Spokane's Hart Field.

Ray won his first two matches in the multi-class event. He topped Wilbur-Creston's Daniel Harms in straight sets, 6-0, 6-0 to open play and then won a tussle with Tyson Lim of Deer Park, 7-6 (13-11), 6-7 (4-7), 6-2 to set up a championship showdown with Andy Simmerman of Freeman, losing 6-0, 6-1.

"Noah's first-round match was smooth sailing," co-head coach Jake Wesselman wrote in an email. "He did a fantastic job finishing points off in a timely manner."

His second-round was described as "a marathon match," Wesselman said.

"I truly wish that every match had this kind of intensity," Wesselman said. "Noah pulled through on an amazing first set by the skin of his teeth."

Ray faced Simmerman for a third time this season in the championship, but nothing much changed from prior meetings score-wise. "I'm extremely proud of the path that he traveled to reach his goals."

Ray qualified for state this coming Friday and Saturday in Yakima as the second seed from District 7 and will play University Prep at 11:30 a.m.

Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].