Tennis: Little places third, Hastings eighth at state finals

By Michael Dashiell • June 1, 2022 1:30 am
Sequim High’s Kendall Hastings and Garrett Little take a break from play at the state 2A tennis tournament in Seattle in late May. Little, a sophomore, placed third and Hastings, a junior, took eighth, both in singles play. Photo by Allison Hastings
Sequim High’s Kendall Hastings and Garrett Little take a break from play at the state 2A tennis tournament in Seattle in late May. Little, a sophomore, placed third and Hastings, a junior, took eighth, both in singles play. Photo by Allison Hastings

It took a state champ to keep Sequim sophomore Garrett Little from a shot at the state title.

Little went 3-1 and placed third overall in the class 2A state tennis tournament, held May 27-28 at Nordstrom Tennis Center in Seattle.

Sequim junior Kendall Hastings made it two-for-two as she earned a pair of wins and placed eighth in the 2A girls singles bracket in Seattle this past weekend.

Little opened with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Jeffrey Truong of Fort Vancouver in the tourney’s opening round, and topped Vihay Lin of Pullman 7-6, 6-0 in the quarterfinals.

In the semis, Little ran into a familiar foe in Josh Chou of Sammamish. Chou, who beat Little in the West Central District semis a week prior, beat Little 6-1, 6-0, and went on to top Sammamish teammate Miles Lander 6-3, 6-0 to win the singles crown.

Little rebounded to top Zavh Chai of Sehome in the third/sixth place match (5-7, 6-1, def.).

Little finished the 2022 season — one that began in the fall of 2021 — with 22 wins in 24 matches, with the only losses coming to Chou.

Hastings fell to Tiffany Phout of East Valley (Spokane) 6-2, 6-3 in the opening round, but rebounded to earn a pair of wins in the consolation bracket, topping Grace Gama of Ridgefield 6-2, 6-2 and Justine Bang of Sammamish, 6-4 and 6-3. Molly Romanchock of Hockinson out-lasted Hastings in the fifth/eighth place match, 6-3 and 7-5.

Hastings was undefeated during the regular season and whose only losses came in the Olympic League and district tourney finals.