MARYSVILLE — There’s one aspect of the state tennis tournament that really stood out to Marysville Getchell’s Marina Ciferri when she made it to the final weekend of the season last year.
“They’re so buff and they look so fit,” she said. “I’m over here like, ‘Uh, I eat potato chips.’”
Now a senior, Ciferri is using her experience from last season as motivation to help her return to the 3A state tournament in Kennewick.
“She’s set that bar that she knows she can get there,” Marysville Getchell coach Andrew Christopher said. “It’s state or bust. She knows that. She knows what her expectations are for herself and what I expect out of her.”
Ciferri lost only one regular-season match last season and finished third at the 3A district tournament, earning the final state berth. At state, her first match was against Catherine Allen of Holy Names Academy, who defeated Ciferri on her way to her second consecutive state championship.
In a loser-out contest, Ciferri defeated Glacier Peak sophomore Madeline Mahler — who beat Ciferri at the district tournament — before falling to North Thurston’s Ainsley Winterrowd in a loser-out match after breaking the strings on her racket and having to switch to a backup.
“It’s pretty much a given, but everybody there was really strong,” Ciferri said. “It was a little intimidating, but it was a lot of fun playing with them.”
Ciferri and Christopher didn’t make the trip to Kennewick alone. Ciferri’s best friend and teammate on the team, Cortni Huffman, came to cheer her on. Both players are back for Marysville Getchell, which returns just four players from last year’s team.
“She’s my best friend, so I really wanted to see her play against the top competitors and be there with my friend and support her,” Huffman said. “It was really intimidating, to me, because I was just scared for her. They just looked so good. But she’s so good as well, so she could compete against them, no problem.”
Huffman said it’s rare when she plays Ciferri, but when she does, the result is the same.
“She always beats me,” Huffman said. “She hits really good angles. She can do a really good slice. She’s just very tough and intimidating. Her balls are very fast. I can’t run fast enough to get to them.”
Ciferri said she’s played tennis “since sixth or seventh grade.” She decided to try tennis “because it’s not a sport where I can get hit in the face with a soccer ball — you know, something that’s so big and would hurt. It’s a pretty relaxed sport. It’s just fun.”
And for Ciferri, the joy of being on the tennis court doesn’t always end when the Chargers finish practicing.
“She loves tennis, so she plays year round and that’s what really makes a difference in high school tennis …” Christopher said. “She’ll leave my practice to go to another practice at the clubs.”
Christopher said Ciferri has been a standout at Marysville Getchell ever since arriving as a freshman and immediately claiming the No. 1 singles spot. As a freshman, Ciferri was quiet. Now, as a senior leader, she’s much more vocal on the court.
“She’s really grown over the last four years,” Christopher said. “Her freshman year she was really quiet and some of the girls on the team kind of took that the wrong way — like the quietness was seen as a cockiness because this 14-year old came in and was immediately the No. 1 singles player. And that was just nerves from being a freshman. She’s kind of come out of her shell over the last couple of years.
“When we were doing team introductions and getting to know each other she was like, ‘I might look scary with my mean game face out on the court, but I promise, I’m really nice.’”
Last season, Ciferri became the first tennis player from Marysville to reach the girls state tournament since Marysville Pilchuck’s Sarah Tuemmler in 2012. The pair are believed to be the only participants from Marysville since 1985.
And Ciferri wants to punch a return ticket this season.
“Everything was awesome. It was just so much fun, just playing with these strong people,” Ciferri said. “I felt like I was one of the top dogs. I was just admiring the other players.”
Whether it’s at the state tournament or in a practice match with Huffman, Ciferri’s favorite part of the game is hitting the ball where her opponent is not.
“I just like that satisfaction of when I hit it, and they can’t get to my ball,” Ciferri said with a laugh. “I’m like, ‘Yes!’ I just really like that feeling.”
It’s a feeling the senior experiences quite often.
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