GIRLS TENNIS: Jefferson and Beamer send doubles teams to state tournament

Beamer's Hoefel and Bowman and TJ's Park and Lee advance to the Class 4A State Girls Tennis Championships.

A pair of doubles teams earned trips to the Class 4A Girls Tennis State Tournament this weekend the Tri-Cities.

Jefferson’s Cindy Park and Crystal Lee finished in third place at the West Central/Southwest District Tournament Saturday at the Capitol City Tennis Center in Olympia after beating Beamer’s Jenny Hoefel and Kiele Bowman in the third/fourth match, 6-2, 6-2. Both teams will play at the Columbia Basin Racquet Club, starting Friday.

Park and Lee, who helped the South Puget Sound League-champion Raiders to a third-place team finish, lost to Camas’ Esther Kwon and Jenn Lewis in the semifinals Saturday, 7-5, 6-1. Kwon and Lewis went on to win the district title.

Hoefel and Lewis were also beaten in the semifinals by Kentridge’s Kyana Esber and Katie Ly in three sets, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

The two girls’ doubles teams will join six boys from the Federal Way school district at the state tournament.

Federal Way junior Mitch Stewart and the TJ doubles team of Cameron and Zach Martin both won district championships during the fall season to earn the top seeds into the Class 4A state tournament.

The Martin brothers’ title led the Raiders to the West Central/Southwest District championship in October. The Martins won all four of their matches in straight sets, beating the champions of the Greater St. Helen’s League and the top seed from the Narrows League en route.

The district title was the third in a row for Stewart. The defending state champion has lost only one match during his high school career, which came to Jackson’s Michael Chamerski in the 4A championship during his freshman season.

Stewart, who is ranked fifth in the country by the USTA and 9th on the AthleticDNA College Recruiting List, has already committed to playing for the University of Washington.

Joining the Martins and Stewart at state on the boys’ side will be Jefferson’s Alex Chan and Alex Lee. Chan finished in third place in singles action and Lee snagged the district’s seventh seed to state.

Also playing at state will be Federal Way’s Alex Lewis, who finished eighth at districts during the fall.

West Central District 4A Girls Tennis Tournament

Capitol City Tennis Center (Friday and Saturday)

Final Team Results

1st: Skyview and Union-16

3rd: Thomas Jefferson-12

4th: Olympia-11

5th: Camas-10

6th: Bellarmine Prep, Todd Beamer, and Kentridge-9

9th: South Kitsap-8

10th: Auburn 5

11th: Mount Rainier, Graham Kapowsin-4

13th: Puyallup, Auburn Riverside, Kentwood, and Tahoma-2

Doubles placing matches (top 8 go to state)

1st/2nd Kwon/Lewis-Camas d Esber/Ly-KR 6-1, 6-3

3rd/4th Cindy Park/Crystal Lee-TJ d Jenny Hoefel/Kiele Bowman-TB 6-2, 6-2

5th/6th Metz/Ballew-Sky d Kelson/Zhang-Oly 6-2, 6-4

7th/8th Bautista/Robinson-Oly d Takehara/Meske-BP 6-2, 6-4

Doubles semifinals

Esber/Ly-KR d Hoefel/Bowman-TB 4-6, 6-3, 6-2

Kwon/Lewis-Camas d Park/Lee-TJ 7-5, 6-1

Consolation semifinals

Kelson/Zhang-Oly d Takehara/Meske-BP 6-4, 5-7, 6-1

Metz/Ballew-Sky d Bautista/Robinson-Oly 7-5, 6-4

Singles placing matches (top 8 go to state)

1st/2nd Hampton-Sky d Vidovic-U  6-3, 6-0

3rd/4th Skjonsby-SK d Wallace-U 6-3, 6-0

5th/6th Thornquist-Aub d Iyengar-BP 6-0, 6-1

7th/8th Hagerty-GK d. Stevanovic-MR 6-1, 6-2

Singles semifinals

Vidovic-Un d Skjonsby-SK 6-0, 6-0

Hampton-Sky d Wallace-U 6-4, 6-0

Consolation semifinals

Iyengar-BP d Stevanovic-MR 6-1, 6-1

Thornquist-Aub d Hagerty-GK 6-2, 6-1