Fillmore, Gerber take first at GNL districts to advance to state

Cheney High's boys tennis season isn't over yet as the No. 2 seed doubles team, seniors Dixon Gerber and Aaron Fillmore, placed first at the Great Northern League districts last Saturday (May 19) to earn an automatic bid to the state tournament.

"Going straight to state couldn't make me happier," head coach Jesse Erickson said. "I am happy we get to skip regionals."

The doubles team competed in four matches throughout the two days at the Washington State University courts. The first match was against East Valley, where Gerber and Fillmore won 6-0, 6-1. They went on to play the No. 3 Pullman team and defeated the Greyhounds 6-3, 6-1.

"They came out firing against East Valley," Erickson said. "They continued their solid play against the No. 3 Pullman, who was also undefeated this year."

In the second day, Gerber and Fillmore defeated the No. 6 seed Pullman duo 6-4, 6-0 to advance to the finals. The Blackhawks played the No. 1 seed overall, an undefeated Pullman doubles team winning 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) to take first overall.

"Both teams were playing really well in the final match," Erickson said. "Our guys played really well in the tiebreaker and didn't give them a chance to come back. Our guys stayed aggressive."

Hunter Pohl and Jairus Kuhn also found success at districts as the No. 5 seed and took fourth overall. The team started out with two wins on the first day against East Valley (6-4, 6-0) and West Valley (6-4, 7-5). They then fell to the No. 1 seed Pullman team, 6-3, 6-1 on the second day of the tournament. Followed by that, Pohl and Kuhn lost to No. 6 seed Pullman, 6-0, 6-3.

"Hunter and Jairus had a nice win over East Valley," Erickson said. "Against West Valley, they had their strongest win of the year. The two of them just worked really well together. But fourth place at districts is pretty good, they came a long way."

The other doubles team for Cheney was Ayden Henderson and Trevor Stewart, who lost to Pullman 7-5, 6-2.

In singles, Alex Rose fell to Jack Hendrick from Clarkston 6-0 in both sets. Jared Adams also lost to Quinn Bankhead from Pullman by 6-0 in both sets. Logan Ray had a 6-1, 6-1 win over Alemayhu Raskell from West Valley followed by a loss to the No. 1 seed, Coleton Tenwick from Clarkston 6-1, 6-0.

"We knew it would be tough for singles," Erickson said. "But Logan played really well. It was a good season for him. Jared had a tough draw, but he was really aggressive. Alex had a lot of good points in his match. There was nothing to feel bad about."

Sending a team off to the state tournament isn't the only thing the Blackhawks have to celebrate either as three players made All-League for Cheney. The league chooses the top-8 players in the GNL and Fillmore, Gerber and Pohl represented Cheney. Erickson was also chosen as the coach of the year.

"It is all because of them," Erickson said in regards to being coach of the year. "I am really proud of how they act on the court.

The Blackhawks finished third overall in the GNL with a 4-4 record and 8-5 overall. Gerber and Fillmore have a little break before competing at the 2A State Tournament at the University of Washington on May 25-26.

"It was a solid season," Erickson said. "I am very proud of the guys and I couldn't have asked for a better season. It has been one of my favorites."

Grace Pohl can be reached at grace@cheneyfreepress.com.