Girls drop three matches

MEDICAL LAKE – In a season filled with learning, the Medical Lake girls' tennis team ended the regular season without a win in league play.

On May 2, the Cardinals faced off against Deer Park and lost all five matches. Medical Lake Head Coach Dawn Eliassen said the Stags have a very strong team.

"I'm pretty sure Deer Park is undefeated this season and will remain that way going into post-season," Eliassen said. "Coach has put together a real strong group of girls."

The Cardinals squared up against the Colville Crimson Hawks three days later, with Colville racking up the 'W', 4-1. The lone win for Medical Lake came from Isabelle Rhodes who beat Page Guatney in two sets 6-2, 6-2.

Medical Lake nearly pulled off the win against Lakeside on May 9, but the Eagles were able to hold on for a 3-2 victory.

Cardinal Aubrey Wiley dominated Cecylia Trudeau from Lakeside in a singles match, 6-1, 6-0.

The other singles match of the day had Isabelle Rhodes shutting out Lakeside's Kaylie Fadness, 6-0, 6-0.

Lakeside took all three doubles matchups. The Cardinals Alanyah Bender and Jasmine Lundberg nearly pulled off the upset, but in the end they couldn't hold the lead and fell in three sets 6-4, 3-6, 5-7.

"I know this was a disappointing loss for these two, but man, they played so well! They came out on fire and jumped to an early lead in the first set," Eliassen said. "They battled well in the second, and were just a matter of points from winning the third. Both Alanyah and Jasmine were all over the net hitting strong put-aways."

Eliassen said the team has grown tremendously throughout the season. She hopes the girls continue to hone their skills through the offseason.

"For the girls, they are leaps and bounds better than they were at the beginning of the season. We keep talking about their "quality of play" and what the points look like," Eliassen said. "Not so much focusing on the outcome of the points, but the quality of them. All of the girls, truly, every single one of them is so much stronger than they were at the onset.

"The hope is always that they will play outside of the season. That has been the key for the boys' team. "There's nothing better for improving than as much consistent court time as possible."