Things didn’t start out too well for the Decatur girls doubles’ team of Meghan Cassens and Kamilla Nowasad at the Class 3A Girls State Tennis Tournament in the Tri-Cities Friday.

The Gator pair lost their opening-round match to Seattle Prep’s Barbara Ann Carey and Sarah Newman before winning their final three matches to end up in fifth place in the 3A tournament.

Cassens, who had won the last two 4A state singles’ titles, was going for her third championship in a row and fourth-straight appearance in the state title match. The Iowa State-bound senior finished second in singles’ action as a freshman, but decided to play doubles as a senior.

So Cassens teamed with Nowasad, an exchange student from Poland, in an attempt to win another title. But it didn’t materialize.

“It’s pretty cool, I really wasn’t expecting that,” said Nowasad, who will be heading back to Poland later this month. “It’s a big honor. It’s a big thing for me and will make my parents proud. I have met a lot of great people at Decatur. It’s been really fun to be at an American high school.”

Carey and Newman were just too much for the Decatur pair Friday. The Seattle Prep team downed Cassens and Nowasad in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2.

But the Decatur pair, who easily won the 3A West Central District title, bounced back to win their next three matches in straight sets to snag fifth.

They downed Capital’s Natalie Nicholson and Nicole Lawton, 6-2, 6-2, and Everett’s Anna Lauritzen and Katie Stewart, 6-2, 6-0. Cassens and Nowasad then beat Mercer Island’s Sophia Gage and Erica Baska in the fifth/eighth match, 6-0, 6-2.

“I think we are a really good team,” Cassens said. “She played really well and has an all-around strong game. We get along real good. We have no personality conflicts and our games match up pretty good.”

Cassens didn’t decide to play doubles during the postseason until two weeks before the South Puget Sound League 3A Tournament started.

“It’s really cool to play with her,” Nowasad said. “She’s the best player. I feel lucky for that.”

Federal Way freshman Mitch Stewart won’t be the next four-time individual state singles champion.

Jackson junior Michael Chamerski held off Stewart 6-4, 6-4 in the boys final Saturday at the Class 4A State Tennis Tournament in Vancouver. Chamerski placed fourth at state as a freshman before sitting out last season to play national-level junior tennis.

Stewart was hoping to follow in the footsteps of now-graduated Kentwood player Max Manthou, who won four-straight titles from 2007-10.

But Chamerski was a little too much for Stewart in the final. Chamerski outlasted Stewart in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, to also help Jackson win the Class 4A team title.

Things started out the 2011 state tournament with an easy 6-0, 6-0 shutout of Jackson’s Mitch Williamson in the first round Friday. Stewart followed with another straight-set victory over Wenatchee’s Clint Vidano from Wenatchee, 6-3, 6-2, to advance into the semifinals.

Stewart earned the berth into the state championship final with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Puyallup’s Brian Pinkard.

In doubles’ action, the Thomas Jefferson doubles’ team of Makoa and Kainoa Rosa finished up in fifth place at the 4A tournament. The TJ pair advanced into the semifinals with a pair of wins Friday.

Rosa and Rosa downed the Wenatchee team of Nick Mandels and Lucas Tilly in their opener, 6-3, 6-4, and beat Kentridge’s Vincent Lin and Alex Li in the quarterfinals, 6-2, 6-0.

But the Raider pair couldn’t handle Bellarmine Prep’s Spencer Herron and Keenan Dolan with a berth into the championship on the line. Herron and Dolan won in straight sets, 7-6 (4), 6-1.

Rosa and Rosa then lost to Union’s Tommy Foster and Connor Horne in the third/fifth match in three sets, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.

Beamer’s Joseph de la Cruz finished 1-2 during his second state tournament Friday in Vancouver in singles’ play. After losing to Eastlake’s Vincente Veras in the opening round, 6-4, 6-2, de la Cruz dominated Kamiak’s Andrew Lee in a loser-out match, 6-1, 6-2.

De la Cruz was knocked out of the tournament with a tough three-set loss to Mitch Williamson, 6-7 (4), 7-5, 6-2.

Jefferson’s Cindy Park lost both her singles’ matches Friday in the 4A tournament. The freshman was dropped in her opener, 6-1, 6-0, to Central Valley’s Leslie Ho and lost in the consolation bracket to Battle Ground’s Kylee Tyler, 6-0, 6-0.

The Beamer doubles’ team of Jenny Hoefel and Kiele Bowman also dropped both their matches in Vancouver.