Clouds, a few rain drops and a slight breeze at the Snohomish High School tennis courts on championship Sunday for the 2024 Snohomish Summer Smash tennis tournament didn’t interrupt Shorewood’s Carlota Garibay Romero’s and Archbishop Murphy’s Cole Balen’s journeys of winning their singles and doubles divisions.
From July 18-21, the Snohomish Summer Smash celebrated its ninth edition, welcoming 185 players to compete during the four-day weekend. And with sunny, 80-plus degree weather Thursday-Saturday but no sun until late-afternoon on Sunday, the players and spectators were provided with a perfect summer tennis setting.
Revenge from 2023
Garibay Romero lost to Shorewood teammate Rylie Gettmann 7-6, 6-4 in the girls gold singles championship last year, but she came back this year and not only topped Lakeside’s Cate Lilleness 7-5, 6-3 for the girls gold singles title, she also concluded the weekend without having dropped a set.
“My side of the draw was a little bit easier than the girl I played,” Garibay Romero said. I actually train with (Lilleness), and she’s a really good friend of mine.
“The first few rounds (of the tournament) were really just get the shots in, focus on my mentality, my intensity on the court. And then as I was getting (to the) semifinal and final, I was just playing more aggressive, putting more balls in, moving the opponent around. And when the final came, it was a pretty good match because Cate’s a really good hitter. She hits a lot of good ground strokes, so I had to put more balls in play, be more intense, really use my mentality a lot.”
Her mixed doubles partner, Xander Gordon, also a Shorewood player, were ousted in the mixed doubles semifinals last year. The result was different this year as the two redeemed themselves, winning the mixed-doubles gold title 6-4, 6-2 against Lakeside’s Addie Streidl and Roosevelt’s Matthew Salazar.
“I think we got a better understanding of how each other functions on the court,” Garibay Romero said. “I’m really aggressive, and he’s more laid back, so I think we kind of just got in sync at the end better than last year.
“When I’m in singles, I always try to get the first serve in. I put more pressure on myself to hit better shots, go for the angles,” she added. “When I go into doubles, I know that I have more margin because the court’s bigger. … I also have less nerves because I have a partner. I trust Xander a lot, so I kind of just let him do his thing, and I do my thing, we just mesh well together.”
Garibay Romero played on the high school team in the spring but didn’t compete at the girls Class 3A state tournament in May, since she was competing at the ITF J30 Halifax tournament in Canada.
Gordon, who played doubles with teammate Peter Kosten at the boys Class 3A state tournament and placed eighth, had a respectable showing this weekend. In addition to being crowned mixed-doubles champion with Garibay Romero, Gordon also finished runner-up in the boys gold singles division to Balen.
Balen topped Gordon 6-2, 6-7 (6-8), 11-9 in the championship, but Gordon had a 9-7 lead in the third-set tiebreaker before Balen rallied back.
Balen was the 2024 WIAA Class 2A singles and 2024 Class 2A District 1 singles champion, and he also finished seventh in doubles with his brother, Sean, in the 2023 Class 2A state tournament.
“(Gordon is) a groundstroke player. His forehand is one of the strongest I’ve seen. So I had to keep it away from his forehand” Balen said. “And then I tried to bring him in a lot too because I knew he was a baseline hitter, and I think his volleys are still strong but just not as strong as his forehand. … But lucky for me in the first set, his forehand wasn’t on.
“I’m looking at what (opponents) don’t want to do. Like a lot of players, especially in high school, they don’t like going to the net. So I’m looking for that,” he added. “And then I’m also looking at body language after they hit some of their shots. Like the first set, I noticed (Gordon’s) body language was down when he was hitting his forehand.
“(Gordon) did some lobs and high balls, and I’m not great with that, and I kept missing my overhead. So that really frustrated me because I’ve been working on that recently. … I just started missing shots that I feel like I should make,” Balen said. “(In the third-set tiebreaker and losing by two points), I honestly just relaxed because it really didn’t matter too much for me. I’m also going off to college, so this was my last high school match, so I was like, ‘just play loose.’ … Tennis is a very problem-solving game, so it helps me stop and think what I’m doing.”
Both Balen and Gordon competed in the boys gold singles division last year, but Gordon bested Balen 6-3, 3-6, 12-10 in the quarterfinals before losing to Snohomish’s Cade Strickland 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) in the finals. So this year, there was some revenge for Balen. Gordon beat Strickland this year in the semifinals 6-2, 6-7 (2-7), 10-8, so there was also some revenge for Gordon.
In the boys gold doubles championship, it was the ultimate Wesco matchup between Balen and his Edmonds-Woodway teammate, Nalu Akiona, against Shorewood’s Riley Boyd and Eli Sheffield.
Balen and Akiona won 7-6 (10-8), 6-7 (6-8), 10-4. The twosome played with each other last year in the boys gold doubles division and won the title, so this year’s win made them back-to-back boys gold doubles champions.
Akiona’s name has been on the list of state placers the past two years. He finished seventh in doubles with teammate Grant Oliver in 2023 and was one match shy this year of competing in the singles fourth-seventh place match.
As for the two Stormrays, Sheffield and Boyd played doubles at state this year and placed seventh, one podium spot above teammates Gordon and Kosten.
“Cole’s very much a more steady player than I am,” Akiona said. “He’s the anchor for me. But then what helps though is that when I’m serving, he’s volleying. We’re like the strongest offense.”
In the girls gold doubles championship, Snohomish and state doubles duo Mak Dauer and Hannah Wells lost to Lakeside’s Lilleness and Streidl 6-1, 6-4.
Dauer and Wells placed eighth at state this year. Wells advanced to state last year with teammate Emerson Norris, but the two were one match shy competing in the fifth-eighth place match.
Full results can be viewed at snohomishsummersmash.com.
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