STANWOOD — For the past three years, Marysville Pilchuck boys tennis player Corey Coombs has been looking for a weakness in Mitch Williamson’s game.
He hasn’t found one yet.
Coombs lost 6-3, 6-0 to the Jackson senior in a semifinal match at the Wesco 4A District 1 tournament on Tuesday. The win gives Williamson a spot in next spring’s state tournament and a rematch in today’s District 1 championship with Stanwood’s Gergo Muller, who beat Cascade’s Patrick Chung 6-0, 6-4 in the other 4A semifinal to punch his own ticket to state.
Coombs battled Williamson, who hasn’t lost a match yet this season, in the first set and trailed just 4-3. But the Jackson senior reeled off two straight games to win the first set and then shut out the MP senior in the second set to advance to the final.
“I felt like I hit he ball well, but he just hit better shots,” Coombs said. “We’ve played against each other over the past three years and I still can’t find a weakness. I’ve tried.”
Williamson said Coombs’ hit-everything-back style was frustrating him early on.
“That’s why I hate playing him because he doesn’t miss and he doesn’t give you much to hit, so I got a little frustrated,” Williamson said.
For Williamson, who finished fifth at state last year, this is his second straight trip to state. But before that he’ll have to fend off Muller, who he beat in straight sets in the two’s only meeting this season. Muller’s only loss on the season was to Williamson.
“He’s really tough competitor and I feel he’ll be tougher the next time,” Williamson said of Muller. “I just need to be consistent and let him make the errors and be mentally strong.”
Muller, who beat Williamson’s teammate Grant Follis in the first round before knocking off Chung, said he’s looking forward to getting another shot at Williamson. “I will have to be more patient and try to make the points and not just finish it in one shot,” Muller said.
In the doubles competition, brothers Andrew Lee and Dominic Lee, of Kamiak, beat defending district champs Peter Cung and James Okubo, of Jackson, 6-1, 6-3 in the semis to advance to state. In the other semifinal match, Younghan Kim and Dylan Merrill beat Jackson’s other doubles partners Ben Mietzner and David Hong 6-1, 7-5.
“Both the Kamiak and Edmonds group made adjustments quicker, sooner and a little more consistent and they flat-out beat them,” Jackson head coach David Hutt said.
Both Jackson doubles teams still have a shot at going to state but they’ll have to win two matches today, including a possible third-place match against each other.
“You never know what’s going to happen, but they have two tough teams to play before that in the Snohomish and Stanwood teams,” Hutt said.
In the singles bracket, Coombs faces Monroe’s Howard Chen in one of the consolation bracket matches and Edmonds-Woodway’s Brandon Bulaclac takes on Patrick Chung. Coombs beat Bulaclac in the first round in a three-set match that the Warriors player eventually lost after retiring with an injury.
“That was a good, hard match,” MP head coach Randy Davis said. “Corey was on his game. I felt the whole time if it’s going to go that way Corey was going to pull it out. Unfortunately (Bulaclac) kind of cramped up, but part of that was Corey working him so hard. But that’s Corey’s game is to grind you up.”
3A District 1 Meet
Glacier Peak’s Dylan Mozlowski beat Meadowdale’s Nick Ekern 6-1, 6-1 in the semifinals to set up a showdown with Shorecrest’s Juan Ramirez in the final for a spot at state.
Mozlowski, who played doubles last season after going to state as a singles player in his sophomore season, knows that today’s match with Ramirez is going to be a challenge.
“He hits the ball deep with a lot of spin and it’s hard to tell where he’s going to hit it,” Mozlowski said. “I’m definitely going to have to step up my game. I have to be intense every point. Run after every ball, get every ball and hit every ball as hard as I can.”
In doubles play, Shorewood’s Hunter Nelson and Miles Jamieson won two matches and Meadowdale’s Evan Devries and Andrew Fijalka came from behind to beat Ferndale’s Tanner Hansen and Erik Arntsen 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 to set up today’s final.
In the consolation bracket, Glacier Peak’s Patrick Luangrath and Jordan Hill beat Mountlake Terrace’s John Kim and Stuart Milner to keep their hopes for a state berth alive, and Meaodwdale’s Brian Nguyen beat Mount Vernon’s Jeff Levine to keep his state hopes alive. Players and teams in the consolation bracket will have to win three matches today if they want to go to state.
4A District 1 meet
At Stanwood H.S.
Singles
Quarterfinals–Gergo Muller (Stanwood) def. Grant Folis (Jackson) 6-0, 6-1; Patrick Chung (Cascade) def. Howard Chen (Monroe) 6-2, 6-3; Corey Coombs (Marysville Pilchuck) def. Brandon Bulaclac (Edmonds-Woodway) 4-6, 6-2, 2-1 retired; Mitch Williamson (Jackson) def. Andrew Ivelia (Snohomish) 6-1, 6-0.
Semifinals–Muller def. Chung 6-0, 6-1; Williamson def. Coombs 6-3, 6-1.
Consolation–Chen def. Folis 6-2, 6-4; Bulaclac def. Ivelia 6-3, 6-1.
Doubles
Quarterfinals–Ben Mietzner-David Hong (Jackson) def. Mitch Scott-Zach Martinson (Snohomish) 6-0, 7-6; Younghan Kim-Dylan Merrill (Edmonds-Woodway) def. Riley Swenson-Frank Medlicott (Stanwood) 6-1, 6-2; Peter Chung-James Okubo (Jackson) def. Eric Saekow-Jonathan Wolf (Stanwood) 6-0, 6-3; Andrew Lee-Dominic Lee (Kamiak) def.Trent Sarver-Tyler Bradford (Arlington) 6-0, 6-0.
Semifinals–Kim-Merrill def. Mietzner-Hong 6-1, 7-5; Lee-Lee def. Chung-Okubo 6-1, 6-3.
Consolation–Scott-Martinson def. Swenson-Medlicott 6-4, 6-2, 6-0; Saekow-Wolf def. Sarver Bradford 6-2, 6-1.
3A District 1 meet
At Mount Vernon H.S.
Singles
Quarterfinals–Juan Ramirez (Shorecrest) def. Brian Bguyen (Meadowdale) 6-0, 6-1; Justin Oh (Shorewood) def. Jeff Levine (Mount Vernon) 6-2, 6-2; Dylan Mozlowski (Glacier Peak) def. Anthony Shanander (Mount Vernon) 6-2, 6-2; Nick Ekern (Meadowdale) def. Brendan Soelling (Everett) 7-5, 6-3.
Semifinals–Ramirez def. Oh 6-3, 6-3; Mazlowski def. Ekern 6-1, 6-1.
Consolation–Nguyen def. Levine 6-3, 6-4; Shanander def. Soelling by injury default.
Doubles
Quarterfinals–Hunter Nelson-Miles Jamieson (Shorewood) def. John Kim-Stuart Milner (Mountlake Terrace) 6-1, 6-1; Connor Garrison-Calvin Rutherford (Sedro-Woolley) def. Patrick Luangrath-Jordan Hill (Glacier Peak) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4; Tanner Hansen-Erik Arntsen (Ferndale) def. Nishaant Limaye-Chris Sato (Shorecrest) 6-1, 6-2; Evan DeVries-Andrew Fijalka (Meadowdale) def. Trevor Cronin-Isaac Bengelmann (Shorewood) 6-4, 6-3.
Semifinals–Nelson-Jamieson def. Garrison-Rutherford 6-3, 6-2; DeVries-Fijalka def. Hansen-Arntsen 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Consolation–Luangrath-Hill def. Kim-Milner 6-4, 6-7, 6-1; Cronin-Brengelmann def. Limaye-Sato 6-3, 7-6.
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