VANCOUVER — Centralia’s Carissa Kaut and W.F. West’s Sydney Cameron and Jisu Han all earned a spot in the state tournament after competing in the District 4 2A girls tennis tournament at the Vancouver Tennis Center here on Thursday and Friday.
In singles action, Kaut was the top seed out of the EvCo and won her first match over Ridgefield’s Kayla Bennett, 6-2, 7-5. Kaut fell in her next match to Columbia River’s Piper Rylander in the semifinals, 6-2, 6-4, to fall into the consolation bracket on Friday.
Kaut started Friday against Tumwater’s Kailey Hickey, earning a win in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1. The win put Kaut into the consolation finals against the Ridgefield’s Bennett, winning once again, 6-2, 6-1, to punch the third and final ticket to the state tournament.
W.F. West’s Claire Kuykendall faced Rylander in the first round, falling in three sets 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. Kuykendall then faced Bennett from Ridgefield in the next match and lost in straight sets, 7-6, 6-2, to end Kuykendall’s season.
“The biggest thing for her she hasn’t played very many singles matches. This is her seventh singles match, she has a lot to learn about how to play the game, good athlete,” W.F. West coach Jack State said. “She needs to learn understanding of where to hit the ball She did what she felt was the right thing but she has not had enough practice to understand why you hit the ball to certain places. By next year at this time, those same matches will be entirely.”
In doubles, W.F. West’s Sydney Cameron and Jisu Han entered the tournament as the top seed out of the EvCo. On Thursday, Cameron and Han began the day by defeating Hockinson’s Emma Dietel and Lauren Coons, 6-1, 6-3. Han and Cameron made their second match on Thursday quick, defeating Mark Morris’ Madison Pond and Chandra Lomax, 6-0, 6-0, to earn a spot in the championship match.
Cameron and Han faced a familiar opponent in the championship match in Tumwater’s Sophia Koelsch and Abby Bond on Friday. Bond and Koelsch won 7-6, 7-5. Cameron and Han played Washougal’s Paige Wilson and Beyonce Bea in a seeding match for second and third, winning in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2.
“I thought Koelsch and Bond played really well. They were a lot cleaner than we were, it was a really close match,” State said. “They just made the big plays when they needed to. We missed some things, give them credit, they had a good day today. Hopefully we’ll get a chance to play them again at state.”
Centralia’s Maddie Corwin and Liza Hopkins started the tournament on Thursday against Wilson and Bea from Washougal, falling 6-1, 6-1. The Centralia duo went up against another Washougal pair in the consolation bracket, falling 6-0, 6-4, to end their season.
Kaut, Cameron and Han will compete next Friday and Saturday in the State 2A girls tennis tournament at the Nordstrom Tennis Center in Seattle.
