Lady Outlaws do well at districts

The Lady Outlaws participated in the district tennis tournament held Monday, May 10, in Madras, and Thursday and Friday, May 13 and 14, at Black Butte Ranch.

On Monday, Juhree Kizziar (freshman) defeated Jabins Samano of North Marion, 6-0, 6-0. Kizziar earned the No. 4 seed in the tournament due to her regular season play, and with the win, advanced to the championship bracket.

Coach Alan VonStein said, “Juhree continues to develop into a very exciting, quick, singles player.”

On Thursday at Black Butte Ranch, Kizziar continued to improve match-by-match. Juhree promptly took care of business in the round of 16 with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Kyra Arneson of Cascade. She advanced and defeated Rachel Placek from Stayton 6-0, 6-2. The two victories took her to the final four of the tournament.

Kizziar lost 4-6, 2-6 to Bailey Bell of Philomath in her next match.

VonStein said, “Juhree played her best tennis of the season despite the loss. She covered the court in amazing fashion with her athleticism and pure desire to win. She never gave up.”

Mansfield (sophomore) and Seymour (freshman), the Outlaws doubles pair, also performed well. The duo started out on Monday with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, win over Diaz and Romero from North Marion.

“Mansfield did a fabulous job poaching at the net, while Seymour managed to control the baseline in a very dominant fashion,” said VonStein.

In the round of 16, Mansfield and Seymour played a very competitive match against their opponents from Philomath, but despite their combined quickness and court coverage they lost 1-6, 0-6, which brought an end to their season.

“They both made great progress as they are new to tennis this year,” said VonStein. “Making the round of 16 was a wonderful accomplishment. I know they both will work hard on their game in the off-season so that they can compete at even a higher level next year.”

Brooke Harper (freshman) and Katie Ryan (freshman) both advanced in the singles bracket of consolation in Monday’s action. They lost their first match, but came back with dominant play to win their next two matches in the consolation bracket.

“Both of these freshmen are developing into very talented and focused tennis players,” said VonStein.

In the consolation bracket on Thursday, Harper and Ryan both advanced in the singles matches.

Harper fell 1-8 in the quarterfinals to Noel Lundeen from Palomas. VonStein stated that Brooke covered the court well and played a very consistent game against her strong senior competitor.

Ryan beat Melody West of Cascade 8-0 in the quarterfinals, but then lost 2-8 to Noel Landing of Philomath in the semifinals.

“Katie amazes all who watch her with her cat-like court coverage and anticipation of her opponent’s next move,” said VonStein. “Both Brooke and Katie were new to the sport of tennis at the beginning of our short season, and are strong competitors.”

VonStein told The Nugget that Sisters girls tennis should be very exciting in the seasons to come.