There’s one last hurrah this season for the Wolves’ girls tennis team. Doubles teammates Anna Prorok, a senior, and Hannah Gauthun, sophomore, are headed to state.
They’ll open their state bid on Friday, May 24, in the Nordstrom Tennis Center in Seattle against Carley Schmidt and Carly Riehl of West Valley in Yakima, who earned their third straight state berth. Schmidt and Riehl took sixth place in the 3A doubles tournament two years in a row.
Sequim’s two girls will be the lone representatives for the Wolves, who won both the boys and girls Olympic League titles this season.
The teams sent four boys to districts in the fall — Donovan Lee and Issiah Dewan in the singles tournament and Brandon Payne and Matthew Richards as doubles — and four girls, Gauthun and Prorok and Melanie Guan and Karen Chan, as doubles teams at districts at the Bremerton Tennis Club last weekend.
Prorok and Gauthun are going to state for the first time, which is heightened by the fact that this will be the second time they’ve played together. Gauthun stepped up to play with Prorok after her partner Hillary Smith was unable to play.
Gauthun said she is keeping her approach simple. “I’m going along for the ride,” she said. “I don’t have any expectations. I’ll do my best and see what comes.”
Their state berth run didn’t start easy as the girls narrowly defeated Crista Magaway and Jenifer Pitts of Steilacoom 6-1, 6-7 (5-7), 10-8.
In the next round they defeated Foster High School’s Moa Arquiza and Eunica Serafica 6-1, 6-3 before losing to eventual No.1 seed Katie Schwab and Becca McNurney of Kingston 6-2, 6-2.
In a playoff for the third seed, the girls lost to Kristi and Kayli Floyd (third seed) of Franklin Pierce 6-2, 6-4 to take the fifth seed.
“Anna and Hannah played their best tennis of the year during the first day of the tournament and they needed their best tennis because the competition in girls’ doubles this year was outstanding,” coach Mark Textor said.
To play at districts, Guan and Chan won two sets on May 15 against a Sumner doubles team 6-4, 6-3. In their first districts match, they defeated Katie Gallegos and Danielle Frederick of Klahowya 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) before losing their next two to Kristi and Kayli Floyd 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-4) and in the consolation to fourth place seed Yen Le/Esmeralda Bailon of Foster 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).
“Melanie and Karen played well and were just two tie-breakers away from qualifying for the state tournament,” Textor said.
In the fall, Sequim’s boys tennis squads saw tough competition in the first rounds, dropping all three singles matches and two doubles matches.
