MEDICAL LAKE – The Cardinal boys tennis team improved to 7-1 in league play with a recent series of wins, while the girls’ team continues to learn through the season according to Head Coach Dawn Eliassen.
Both teams faced off against Freeman on April 25, with the boys winning 3-2 thanks to strong doubles play and the Lady Cardinals falling, 4-1.
Eliassen explained that several members of the girls’ team continued to improve different aspects of their games. She described one match between Cardinals’ Aubrey Wiley and Freeman’s Kate Schneider that was back and forth three-set battle that saw Freeman came out with the win 6-3, 1-6, 6-7(1-7).
“These two hit a ton of balls to each other. Aubrey tried a nice variety of strategies including going to the net to finish the point,” Eliassen said. “In the end, Freeman just played more consistently and was able to hit one more ball into the court to earn the point.”
Medical Lake won two of the boys’ doubles matches with solid match play, and the third by default.
The boys continued to play well into the next matchup against Newport according to Head Coach Matt Houn, going 5-0 against the Grizzlies.
The coach described the effort Josh Burt put into improving his game so he could beat a player he lost to earlier this year.
“Josh played like a superstar beating someone who had beaten him earlier in the season,” Houn said.
Coach Eliassen said that despite strong efforts by the team, the girls weren’t able to come away with any wins in the match.
Alanyah Bender and Jasmine Lundberg played strong a doubles match against Newport’s Sophia Stott and Mena Homar, but couldn’t pull off the victory.
“Their first set was good quality tennis. Jasmine has become so much more confident at the net and was returning a number of volleys,” Eliassen said. “Alanyah has strengthened her net game and had a number of point-ending put-a-way's from there.”
The Cardinal team also participated in the 75th Inland Empire Tournament. Tristan Francis and Isaac Barr did well in their respective matches.
“This was a big win for our team. A super intense match that we came out of with the win,” Eliassen said. “This should be a needed confidence booster for Tristan and Isaac.”
Building on that, the coach elaborated on the importance of being able to return to a tournament level of play.
“It was good to be back at the IE after a couple of years off. This was the first tournament experience for our players, and such a good opportunity,” she said. “The tournament brings in schools from all over the state and Idaho with all levels of ability and experience. It's a great opportunity for our kids to learn what it takes to play matches back to back in the same day.
“With just a couple of weeks until we get to our own district tournament, I think the players learned a lot about how to prepare for a match after sitting around and waiting for a couple of hours. They also have the chance to watch some really great players at some of the sites.”
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