Friday, March 29, 2024

Chelan High School Tennis

Posted

May 20
The CTL #1 and #2 girls seeds traveled to Mead on Saturday for the CTL/NEA “Glue” Crossover matches, which are winner to state, loser out. For the 2nd year in a row, the CTL swept all 4 matches.
For Chelan in girls singles, Arden Paglia defeated Isabelle Rhoads of Medical Lake 6-0, 6-3.  In doubles, Chelan’s Piper Grossberg and Maya Cowan handled Emma Hollen and Kate Schneider of Freeman 6-4, 6-0. That was worth the three hour drive.  On to State.
Next up: For the girls and boys is WIAA State Tournament in Yakima on Friday, May 26 and Saturday, May 27.
May 18
CHELAN - The last of the boys’ District 6 1A/B qualifying matches for the state tournament took place at Lake Chelan Shores today.
For Chelan, junior Rylen Moody began the day with a high pressure match vs Charlie Lyons of Cascade which was winner to state - loser out.  Rylen was clutch, playing possibly his best tennis of the season in a dominant 6-0, 6-1 victory over a quality opponent to clinch a state berth.  In his follow-up match for seeding, Rylen lost to Owen Painter of Okanogan 6-4, 6-2.
In boys doubles, Chelan’s Luke Christopherson and Sam Bordner were in the same boat, needing a victory to clinch a berth.  Unfortunately they fell to Hyer and Dearie of Quincy (the eventual 3rd place finishers) 2-6, 6-7.  In their follow-up match, Sam and Luke defeated Peterson and Willard of Manson to claim the alternate spot out of District 6.
May 16
CHELAN - May 16 was day 1 of the 1A/B District 6 Tournament, which is the qualifier for the WIAA State Tournament.  It’s an 8 entry double-elimination tournament, with 4 entries from 1A schools and 4 entries from the NCW Bs.  The 1st round pairings were #1s vs #4s and #2s vs. #3 (for example, the #1 seed from the CTL played the #4 seed from the NCW Bs).  The top 4 finishers qualify for the state tournament, so it’s a typical “win two before you lose two” format.  The B schools had a great afternoon on the singles court, while the 1A schools did well in doubles.
For Chelan, #2 seed Rylen Moody opened up with a challenging match vs a scrappy Jasper Burnell of Oroville, winning in comeback fashion in three sets 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.  Actually, Rylen was the only CTL player to win in that opening round - a testament to how strong the B singles players were today.  In the semifinals, Rylen faced #1 seed Ben Cullison of Manson.  I believe that match showcased the best singles of the day, with Cullison coming out on top 6-4, 6-3. On Thursday, Rylen will face Charlie Lyons of Cascade for a winner to state/loser out consolation semifinal.
Also in singles, #3 seed Cray Silva kicked off the day with a match vs #2 seed Rex Torgesen of Manson.  Cray got his feet under him in the 2nd set before falling 6-1, 6-4.  In his subsequent loser out match, Cray again had a great 2nd set but came up short vs Cascade’s Lyons 6-0, 6-4.
In doubles, #3 seeds Luke Christopherson and Sam Bordner fell to Rasmussen and Willard of Manson 6-1, 6-3, before redeeming themselves with a hard fought 6-3, 7-5 victory over Cole and Renslow of Entiat to stay alive.  Like Moody, their first match on Thursday will be winner to state/loser out vs Hyer and Dearie of Quincy.
May 13
QUINCY - All the remaining CTL players who survived day 1 on Thursday returned to Quincy on Saturday morning for the final rounds of the tournament.  For the boys, this was a qualifier for the district tournament this upcoming week vs the B schools, because the 1A boys and B boys are pooled for this year’s state tournament.  For the girls, this acted as their district tournament because they are not pooled with the B girls for state.
I was impressed by the grit, determination and fitness of our team.  The elements were difficult today, with intense heat and strong wind.  This tournament was full of dehydration induced cramps and heat exhaustion, but not a single Chelan athlete succumbed to those elements.  We were truly Goat tough, both physically and mentally.
In girls singles, Arden Paglia’s first match of the day was the championship match vs Faith Kert of Cashmere.  In today’s match, Arden had her best results of the season vs last year’s 1A doubles champion, but came up short.  That forced Arden to play the winner of the consolation bracket (3rd place) in order to defend her 2nd place finish, because the two had not previously played in the tournament.  In that match, Arden defeated Zienna Erickson of Cascade 6-2, 6-2 to maintain her #2 seed.  Paglia will travel to Spokane on Saturday, May 20 for a winner to state - loser out crossover match vs an NEA opponent (NEA is the Spokane area 1A league).
The CTL girls doubles bracket was dominated by Chelan, but with only two entries moving on to the NEA crossover next weekend, a lot of “friendly fire” resulted.  First, Chelan’s Ellie McLemore and Josie Garfoot won their consolation semifinal 6-1, 6-1 over Lassila/O’Neil of Omak, while Chelan teammates Piper Grossberg and Maya Cowan also won their consolation semifinal over Hansch/Seidensticker of Cashmere 6-2, 6-0.  Those two wins forced a Chelan vs Chelan matchup in the consolation final, which Grossberg and Cowan won by a narrow margin 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.  That put Grossberg/Cowan in 3rd and McLemore/Garfoot in 4th with only the top 2 moving on to the NEA crossover.  Meanwhile, Chelan’s Liv Strandberg and Caelan Rothlisberger were in the championship match vs Richter/Sackman of Omak.  Unfortunately, Strandberg and Rothlisberger lost the tightest of matches 6-7, 6-7 to take 2nd.  Plot twist:  since only two entries move on and Strandberg/Rothlisberger had not yet played Grossberg/Cowan, that forced a 2nd vs 3rd match similar to Arden’s match in singles.  That match also turned out to be a long close win, with Grossberg and Cowan prevailing 6-1, 1-6, 6-3.  So, Piper Grossberg and Maya Cowan will also be traveling to Spokane next Saturday for that same winner to state - loser out match vs an NEA doubles team.  Strandberg and Rothlisberger will be alternates.  In the end, Chelan took 3 out of the top 4 placements in the girls doubles bracket - quite an accomplishment!
In boys singles, Co-CTL Player of the Year, Rylen Moody won his semifinal match 6-0, 6-3 over Noah Rose of Omak, which placed Moody in the championship vs Charlie Lyons of Cascade.  However, after dropping the first set to Lyons narrowly in a tiebreaker 5-7, Moody lost the 2nd set 2-6 to finish in 2nd place.  Teammate Cray Silva began the day attempting to fight his way through the consolation bracket, first by defeating Robert Bensch of Quincy 7-6, 6-2.  That put Cray up against Rose of Omak who moved to the consolation bracket after losing to Moody.  Cray won the 1st set 7-5, and was up 1-0 in the 2nd when Rose retired from the match.  In addition, Silva was awarded 3rd place in his next match because opponent JJ Groner of Cashmere had an injury default.  So, Rylen Moody will enter this week’s district tournament as the #2 seed, and Silva as the #3 seed.
In boys doubles, unfortunately there was more Chelan vs. Chelan friendly fire.  Luke Christopherson and Sam Bordner opened the morning in the semifinals, but fell to the eventual champions Kirk/Sackman of Omak 6-2, 6-3.  At that same time, teammates Tristan and Wade Sanderson were eeking out a match in the consolation bracket vs Johnson/Peterson of Cascade 6-7, 7-6, 6-4.  So, that put Christopherson/Bordner up against the Sandersons in a loser out - winner to districts matchup, which Bordner and Christopherson narrowly won 7-5, 6-4.  That put Luke and Sam in the consolation final for 3rd/4th, but their opponents also injury defaulted, so Luke and Sam will enter the district tournament as #3 seeds.  Tristan and Wade also won their match for 5th/6th over Guerin/Lewis of Cashmere, so they’re the alternates to districts in the boys doubles bracket.
It’s exciting to have at least one Chelan entry still alive in each of the four postseason brackets - the only CTL school to do so.

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