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From the pigtail to the state tournament, Emma Hamilton turned her season around in the span of three days to place fourth and nab the final state spot in singles from the Class 2A District 4 tournament held at Steamboat Island.
The Bearcats senior fell in her final match at the EvCo tournament and had to grind her way through districts. It included a three-set win over Centralia’s Maya Lackie on Thursday held at Thorbeckes in a loser-out match.
In the end, she found a way.
“We knew she could do it, but it is a matter of could it be done?” W.F. West head coach Megan Wellander said. “She played some very good tennis. She locked back in and used her determination to get where she wanted to go.”
On the doubles side, W.F. West’s two doubles teams of Manta Ceesay and Ellie Mittge plus Katelyn Wood and Lilly Hueffed met to get the first alternate spot for state.
Like they have the entirety of this season, Ceesay and Mittge won in three sets.
“We couldn't win the big points and made unforced errors,” Wellander said. “I’m still proud of their efforts and not giving up.”
Centralia’s Esther Hopkins fell in a winner to state match.
The two-day state tournament is slated to start on Friday at the Nordstrom Tennis Center in Seattle.
