Girls tennis posts a second-place finish at districts

The girls tennis team upset the No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4 tournament seeds to earn a second-place finish at the Special District 3 Girls' tennis Tournament held at Black Butte Ranch on Thursday and Friday, May 9 and 10.

North Bend took top honors with a team score of 35 and Sisters finished second with 23 points. Klamath Union was third with 22 points and Henley took fourth with 18.

Two of Sisters' doubles teams qualified for state and will play at the University of Oregon next week.

Savannah Spear and Haley Carlson went all the way to the championship round and finished second.

Spear and Carlson defeated Olivia Curran and Kylie Mehlbrech of Junction City 6-1, 6-0 in round one on Friday. The duo went on to beat Mazama's Angie Haskins and Erin Haney (No. 3 seed) 6-0, 6-3 in round two.

In the quarterfinals, Savannah and Haley defeated Sarah Nelson and Mckenna Schermerhorn 6-1, 6-0. On Saturday, the pair played against Vanessa Matheson and Jesse Vezo (No. 2 seed) and won the match 6-3, 6-4, which put them in the championship match. The duo lost to Taylor Cuzzorki and Hannah Schandelmieir-Lynch 6-0, 6-0, for a second-place tournament finish.

"Savannah and Haley played confident and they were fast and prepared for their shots and were consistent together," said Coach Marti Dale. "They had a winning spirit and were impressive in their play."

Shelbi Thompson and Hannah Stuwe also played their best tennis of the year. Shelbi and Hannah dominated their first match and blanked North Bend's Ashley LaBarre and Bailey Lion 6-0, 6-0. In the second round, they defeated Tisha Bray and Gracelyn Morgan of Klamath Union 6-0, 6-2.

Thompson and Stuwe advanced to the quarterfinals and earned a 6-4, 6-1 win over Mazama's Karee Hernandez and Yelmi Montano. The duo fell 6-0, 6-1 to Cuzzorki and Schandelmieir-Lynch (No. 1 seed) in the semifinals. Cuzzorki and Schandelmieir-Lynch went on to win the tournament.

Shelbi and Hannah lost 6-3, 6-4 to Vanessa Matheson and Jesse Vezo to finish fourth.

"Shelbi and Hannah moved together and communicated well," stated Dale. "Most of their points were on put-aways at the net. Their serving was consistent and strong and they were in their best form."

Sisters' other two doubles' teams, Brenna Weems and Isabel Tara, and Kiley Sheldon and Kira Neil both won their first round and then were eliminated in the second round.

Weems and Tara defeated Breanna Quezada and Devonna Brown of Hidden Valley 6-1, 6-2, and then lost to North Bend's Cuzzort and Schandelmieir-Lynch.

Kiley Sheldon and Kira Neil beat Sierra Starr and Elise Starr 6-1, 6-4 in the first round and lost the second round to North Bend.

All of Sisters' singles players won at least one match.

In the first round, Allie Spear beat Zoe Newton of Hidden Valley 6-0, 6-1, and Angela Todd defeated Brielle McKinney of Mazama 6-0, 6-2. Both girls lost in the second round.

Anna Peasley lost her first match and went into the consolation round. Peasley played in the consolation all the way to the finals for a second place finish.

Kiran Mates lost to Sarah Pardon in the first round and went into consolation. Mates won the first round in consolation, but then lost in the quarterfinals.

Dale was thrilled with her team's performance.

"Going into the tournament none of our players were seeded and our top two double's teams beat the No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4 tournament seeds to take second and fourth place," stated Dale. "It was impressive. It was so exciting to watch that happen and we were all so happy for the girls. They really stepped up their performance and implemented outstanding plays. They ramped it up and pulled it off."

Savannah Spear and Haley Carlson, along with Shelbi Thompson and Hannah Stuwe, will travel to the State Tournament Thursday through Saturday, May 16-18. The tourney will be held at the University of Oregon in Eugene.