Alex Whites serves against Pateros.
Twelve Liberty Bell High School tennis players will be in Omak and Okanogan this weekend for the league tennis championships, with hopes of moving on to the state tournament.
The Mountain Lion girls’ and boys’ teams built some momentum going into the playoffs as they claimed victories last week in home matches against Entiat and Pateros.
Against Entiat on May 4, the girls prevailed, a 4-1, with as No. 1 singles player Logan Butler powering to a 6-0, 6-0 win. Tiva Ward won her singles match, 8-6, while Larkin Lucy lost a hard-fought match, 3-6, 6-4, 9-11. Erin Frey and Ruthann Matteson took their doubles match, 6-4, 7-5, and Shelby Vintin and Chloe Temple closed the day with a 7-5, 3-6, 10-4 win.
The boys’ won 3-2, scrambling back after losing the No. 1 and No. 2 singles matches: Forest Rickabaugh lost, 2-8 and Isaac Blodgett fell, 2-8. Grayson Alexander won, 8-0, and the doubles team of Josh Frey and Jesse Schulz drew the Mountain Lions even with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 comeback win. Tyler White and Nate Hirsch finished with an 8-6, 7-5 win.
The next day, Liberty Bell hosted Pateros, with the girls and boys winning by identical 3-2 scores. Butler dropped her No. 1 singles match, 6-3, 3-6, 1-6, Ward won, 6-3, 6-4, and Lucy lost her singles match. Erin Frey and Matteson grabbed a 6-2, 6-1 win, while Lucy and Vintin teamed up to win their doubles match.
Alexander, playing in the No. 1 singles slot, lost 2-6, 0-6, Blodgett lost 6-7, 6-2, 11-13 in an extended match settled by a tie-breaker, and Tyler White won, 6-0, 6-1. Rickabaugh and Alex Whites won 6-4, 6-2.
Liberty Bell’s final home match was on Tuesday at Entiat.
Playing in this weekend’s tournament are Ward, Butler, Erin Frey, Matteson, Vintin and Temple for the girls, and Josh Frey, Schulz, Alexander, Blodgett, Rickabaugh and Whites for the boys. The two-weekend tournament resumes on May 14.
