Celina Mitchell (left) watches as Mckenzi Hammel (right) returns a ball during the match against Colville's Jadyn and Haley Cartledge. Medical Lake fought to stay in it but fell in two sets 1-6, 0-6.
MEDICAL LAKE – The Medical Lake boys tennis team had strong outings last week winning four of five matches against Newport on April 11, and winning by the same score against Deer Park on April 13. The girls' tennis team played three matchups last week and dropped each event, as they struggled through the week.
In the first matchup of the week, Medical Lake's Josh Burt faced Bear Smith of Newport. Burt won the match in two sets, 6-4, 6-1.
"I think Josh gained some confidence in this match," said Medical Lake Head Coach Dawn Eliassen. "Josh has been close in his previous matches. It was a big step to see him not just hold on to the win, but improve his play and extend the score margin in the second set."
Cardinal Ryen Gibby also played a singles match. He faced Will McDaniel. According to the coach, Gibby played a very consistent match and earned a two-set win, 6-3,6-2.
The girls didn't fare quite as well against the Grizzlies, losing all five matches on the day. Coach Eliassen said the team is quite young with only one player having previous experience, so every matchup is a learning experience for the team.
"Aubrey is the only player who turned out for tennis before the shut-down in 2020," Eliassen said. "All of the other girls only have the shortened six-week season of 2021 under their belts, so we're really still a young team in terms of experience. Each match is a practice opportunity with our focus on trying to implement the new skill or strategy we've been working on in practice."
The boys team showed significant success against Deer Park on the 13, with Medical Lake again winning four of the five scheduled matches.
All of the Cardinal boys did well, but two of the doubles matches were complete shutouts. Tristan Francis and Isaac Barr iced their opponents Theo Putnam and Lucas Nuemiller from Deer Park 6-0, 6-0.
Brayden Dickey and Brody Rector also took their match for Medical Lake in two sets winning 6-0, 6-0 over Mac and Logan Wood.
"All of our players are making progress each match played," said Coach Matt Houn.
Medical Lake's girls team struggled against Deer Park as well, but according to coach Eliassen, this year is more of a learning year for her team.
"Again, the focus this year is just to let all these new girls hit a lot of balls, play as much as possible, learn the game, and have fun," she said.
April 15 brought the matchup between the Medical Lake girls' team and Colville, and the coach explained how the team is showing improvement. She also described how first year player Isabelle Rhodes was able to find success and win a match. Rhodes topped Payton Abrams in three sets winning 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
"Isi got a win! What a huge deal. She's a brand new player," Eliassen said. "And this week was her first time ever playing singles. To fight off a first set loss to force a third set and then to go on and win the match is just huge."
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