Shorewood seniors Samantha Lim and Jordan Reni begin doubles play at the state 4A tournament this morning, May 26, at the Vancouver Tennis Center.
The duo earned the third-place state berth from District 1 by beating Jackson’s Katie Sieck and Krystal Osborne, 6-2, 6-0 May 19 at Stanwood High School. It was a rematch of the Western Conference South Division title match, which Lim and Reni also won.
It’s Reni’s first trip to state and second for Lim, who qualified as part of a doubles pair as a sophomore with Blossom Cohon.
Lim and Reni won their first match in the district tournament 6-2, 6-0 over Jen Kaber and Tara Flood of Snohomish.
However in the semifinals Stanwood’s Meghan Amundson and Lauren Crawford, the No. 2 seed from the Western Conference North, sent them into the consolation bracket with a 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 defeat.
Amundson and Crawford’s unorthodox doubles style and ability to make tough shots threw off Lim and Reni who didn’t have their best match, Shorewood coach Arnie Moreno said.
Lim and Reni bounced back with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Rachel Dawson and Madison Everett of Cascade and then cruised past Sieck and Osborne to make it to state.
“They were back on track playing tough,” Moreno said. “They didn’t have any trouble coming through. Hopefully that will carry on into their first match (at state).”
Lim and Reni play their opening-round match against Abby Olbrich and Sarah Click of Vancouver’s Skyview High School.
“I think these two can handle it, they’ve been in big matches,” Moreno said. “I think they’re going to be OK. I think they’re going to be ready.”
Grace Lee and Jill Trumbull of Snohomish, the eventual district champions, beat Shorewood’s Emily Sands and Elle MacGeorge in the first round, 6-1, 6-0. Dawson and Everett eliminated Sands and MacGeorge 6-2, 6-2 in the consolation round.
Moreno said Lee and Trumbull, Amundson and Crawford as well as Lim and Reni have the potential to make a run at state.
“I think they’re going to represent our league very well,” he said. “There’s very little difference between the first, second and third doubles teams.”
In singles play, Shorewood junior Kari Fiske came within one match of playing for a state berth falling to Everett’s Bethany Stanton 0-6, 7-6, 7-6 in a hard-fought consolation match.
“She played her heart out and came up short on a few points,” Moreno said. “Next year I think she’s going to be one of the favorites in the singles draw in the league.”
After losing to Stanwood’s Angela Schonberg, 6-3, 6-1 in the first round, Fiske came back to beat Oak Harbor’s Christine Connelly, 6-4, 6-1 to set up the battle with Stanton.
Meadowdale’s Lauren Summers captured the district singles title.
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