 |
Scobel Wiggins | Gazette-Times
Crescent Valley freshman Charlotte Fisher won her quarterfinal match at the Mid-Willamette Conference district tennis tournament at Timberhill Tennis Club on Thursday to earn a berth to the state tournament next week. She will try to advance to the MWC finals today. |
Crescent Valley freshman knocks off two seeded players to move into semis
By Raju Woodward
Gazette-Times Reporter
Maybe Charlotte Fisher’s success during the second day of the Mid-Willamette Conference district tennis tournament shouldn’t have come as a surprise.
After all, Crescent Valley’s No. 2 singles player went undefeated in MWC play during the regular season.
She turned in a dominant quarterfinals performance on Thursday to earn a trip to the 5A state tournament next week - as a freshman.
Yet Fisher admitted she didn’t expect to fare so well so soon in her career.
“I was a little surprised,” Fisher said. “I think most people were surprised because I was unseeded and I came in here and won.”
And she did it in convincing fashion, knocking off two seeded players en route to qualifying for state.
In the first round, Fisher cruised to a 6-0, 6-0 victory over South Albany’s Amanda Harker-Owens. She then dispatched Corvallis’ Elise Engelking, the No. 4 seed, in the second round 6-3, 6-1.
That set up a quarterfinal matchup with Dallas senior Becca Cudmore, the No. 5 seed. After shaking off some early nervousness, Fisher left no doubt as to who would be moving on.
“As I started going through the match, I could feel my confidence coming back and I knew I could win then,” Fisher said. “I just told myself to keep the ball steady and play well.”
Fisher ended up defeating Cudmore 6-0, 6-0. She will be joined at the state tournament by teammate Allison Bostrom, last season’s district champion and 5A state runner up. The junior won 6-0, 6-0 over Woodburn’s Lily Abildayev to make it back to state.
In doubles play, CHS’s Katie Bauer and Claire Freeman also earned a return trip to state. But it wasn’t easy for the No. 2 seeds. Crescent Valley’s Libby Nousen and Ashten Johnson took them to three sets in their quarterfinal match.
Bauer and Freeman dropped the first set 6-4, before bouncing back to win 6-3, 6-0.
“It was tough,” Bauer said. “They are a really good team, but we just focused and pulled it out. We played pretty well, I guess I would just try to approach more next time.”
And things don’t get any easier from here. Fisher will play No. 1 seeded IIaria Alessi of West Albany today in the semifinals. Alessi went undefeated in MWC play and only lost one game in her three matches on Thursday. Alessi defeated CHS senior Amanda Wood to make the semis.
“She plays really well,” Fisher said of Alessi. “She hits the ball hard. But I think the way she plays, I’m similar because I hit the ball deep, and so does she. She keeps her opponents running and that’s what I like to do too. I’ll do anything to win as many games as I can.”
On the boys side, the Spartans had two doubles teams earn state berths. But neither of them was the team CHS coach Ken Stevenson thought had the best chance of making it. His top doubles pair of Daniel Gradison and Thor Dodson lost in the second round.
Instead, it was his seventh-seeded team of Patrick Prahl and Stan McMurray that upset CV’s duo of Pat Yun and Michael Sheng, the No. 2 seed, in three sets 6-1, 2-6, 6-2. But the biggest surprise was the Spartans’ unseeded team of Parker Wood and Andy Boomer.
The pair pulled off a three-set victory against third-seeded Cody Rey and Scott Beer of West Albany. They will play their teammates, Prahl and McMurray, today in the semifinals. Wood is a junior, while Boomer is a freshman.
“One of our coaches here said we should be able to beat all the teams we would draw,” Boomer said. “But I came in here thinking we could win it all.”
All the top seeds made it to semifinals in the singles competition. CV senior Kevin Wong, the No. 2 seed, defeated Dallas’ Nate Humphrey to earn a repeat trip to state.
“It was a tough match,” Wong said. “He fought back pretty hard in the first set and then I came out fired up in the second set. I was definitely hoping to make it this year, it was a big thing for me.”
His teammate Alex Fortune missed joining him at state, falling in the quarterfinals 6-3, 6-2 to South Albany’s Bond Minard. CHS’s top player, Vishesh Khanna, was knocked out by top-seeded Michael Baumgartner of West Albany then, too.
Today’s semifinal matches begin at 1:30 p.m., with the finals following.
|
|
You must be logged
in to comment.
It's free and quick!
|
|
|
 |
RSS 
GT Reader Comments