LONGVIEW — Centralia earned third place at the Helen Donovan Invitational girls tennis tournament here on Saturday.
The Tigers finished with 42 points, just one point behind Kelso for second place. Castle Rock won the tournament with 45 points.
Centralia’s Carissa Kaut won the individual singles title, defeating Castle Rock’s Madeline Del Castillo in three sets, 2-6, 6-2, 7-5.
No. 2 singles player Gracie Wiley finished in second place, falling to Castle Rock’s Jenna LaFontaine in the title match, 6-2, 6-0. Centralia’s No. 3 singles player Shannon Johnson lost in the title match, 6-3, 6-2.
The Tiger duo of Liza Hopkins and Maddie Corwin claimed third place with a win over a Kelso duo and Brynna Rooklidge and Danika Jensen finished in fourth place.
“This tournament shows us what we need to work on as a team. Our team is fairly young. We took four freshmen to this tournament and this experience is invaluable. You can't duplicate an experience like this in practices,” Centralia coach Deb Keahey said. “The pressure of tournament matches are a great way to learn about how far our team needs to improve. This was a great learning tool for our young team. The four freshmen are eager to learn and sometimes losing a set or two is a great way to learn. I love going to this tournament because the experience there helps build character.”
Centralia travels to Three Rivers Christian on Tuesday for a non-league match.
