Tennis players lose in state quarterfinals

Jed Kizziar represented the Outlaws at the boys 1A/2A/3A/4A state championships held in Corvallis at Oregon State University on Friday and Saturday, May 18 and 19. So did the doubles-duo Hawley Harrer and Rylee Weber, who competed for the Outlaws in the girls' championships.

In the opening round, Jed posted a convincing 6-1, 6-0, win over Matthew Jordan of North Bend.

Coach Carl Click said, "In his usual style, Kizziar used his athletic court coverage, and net pressure to force errors and win points. Late in the match, a frustrated Jordan looked to his coach and shrugged his shoulders as if to say, 'What can I do?'"

Jed won the first game of the match, Jordan took the second, and then Kizziar won 11 straight games.

Kizziar advanced to the quarterfinals, where he suffered a 6-0, 6-1, loss to Kristian Peev of Valley Catholic. Peev was seeded second in the 16-player draw, and won the match easily.

"Peev was just a much more experienced and skilled tennis player," said Click. "Jed took the loss with a smile, knowing he was out-gunned. We were all happy he hung in there and got one game."

The loss snapped Jed's 13-game winning streak.

Click said, "After earning a state berth at doubles as a sophomore, Jed's goal for this season was to make it to state as a singles player. He accomplished that, and added a first round win. He ended the season as one of the final eight singles players in his classification."

On the girls' side, Harrer and Weber also had a great first round win. The pair dominated the court in their 6-0, 6-0, win over Oregon Episcopal's Simran Jhooty and Alexa Tsai.

"Hawley and Rylee played the best I've ever seen," said Coach Crystal Tosello. "They played extremely smart, just getting the ball back in play when they needed to, and taking risks and gong for an aggressive shot when they should. When they got the right shot, they'd both run up to the net, and the other team didn't know what to do. They were very intimidating at the net together, and played their volleys perfectly out of reach of their opponents."

The duo lost in a close quarterfinal match. They played Cascade's Lewis and Osuna (No. 4 seed), who they'd lost to in the championship match at Districts, and this match was even more competitive. Hawley and Rylee held a 4-3 lead in the first set before they surrendered three games and lost the set 4-6. They dropped the second set 3-6.