Girls tennis takes first at Madras Invitational

The Lady Outlaws took top honors at the Madras Invitational on Saturday, April 16. Sisters finished with a score of 121 for first, and LaSalle was runner-up at 113. Vale took third (111), LaSalle No. 2 took fourth (108), and Estacada was fifth (95). Remaining scores were Klamath Union (86), Madras (77) and Burns (73).

In round robin tournament play, teams played for 30 minutes or seven games, whichever came first.

Megan Minke (No. 2 singles) finished the day with 33 points for a second-place-overall finish. Minke's serves were incredible, and she had very few double faults. Megan had several standout plays with overhead smashes at the net, which intimidated her opponents.

"Megan showed a lot of strength and power in her game," said Coach Marti Dale. "She had a great day and was able to keep the ball in."

Becky Thomas (No. 1 singles) took third place overall with 27 points. Thomas played a fantastic match against LaSalle No. 2 to earn the 5-2 victory. Becky played an aggressive game and scored many of her points through excellent net play.

"Becky played very consistent, and her mental game was strong and steady," said Dale.

Sisters' doubles teams also had a fine showing and placed in the tournament.

Olivia Miller and Lauren Rudinsky (No. 2 doubles) took second overall with 33 points. The duo was consistent in their serves and in their net and baseline game the entire tournament and gained mental confidence as the day went on.

Dale stated, "Olivia and Lauren communicated well and were able to adjust their game according to their opponent."

Jen Houk and Elise Herron (No. 1 doubles) finished third overall with 28 points. Jen and Elise started the tournament strong with accurate serves and an aggressive net game and had standout matches against Klamath Union and Madras. Houk and Herron took control from the beginning and dominated play throughout the

matches.

"Jen and Elise set up plays for each other and put it away at the net," said Dale. "They suffered a hard loss to Burns but overall it was a very productive day and they experienced many learning opportunities for doubles play."

Dale told The Nugget she was extremely pleased with the performance of her No. 1 and No. 2 singles and doubles.

"The win was truly a team effort," said Dale. "Everybody stepped up and did their part. They kept up their steady play and just kept winning games in each match. The depth of our team is strong, and we won enough games to be able to win the tournament."

Four days earlier the Outlaws traveled to Junction City. Sisters lost 2-6 to North Bend and then lost 3-6 to Junction City.

Next up for the Lady Outlaws is a match at Mt. View on Thursday, April 21.