T-birds, Scots off to state

Shorewood will send junior Anna Chatilo to state in singles and freshman MacKenzie Bang and senior Lisa Hamman in doubles.

Action gets underway Friday morning, May 23 on the indoor courts at the Vancouver Tennis Center.

Chatilo faces Christy Sipes of Gig Harbor in the first round at 8 a.m. Bang and Hamman take on Anna Spurrier and Kayla Seitz of Prairie at 10:15 a.m.

“I’ve got a really nice group going from Shorewood,” Shorewood coach Arnie Moreno said. “I think they’re really competitive. I feel especially with Anna’s second year of going to state she knows what to expect there. She seems way more relaxed and ready to go.”

“The main thing for Anna is she needs to stay within the limits of her game and what she does,” Moreno said. “If she does that, she’ll compete with anybody.”

Bang and Hamman finished second in the 4A District 1 tennis tournament, losing to Edmonds-Woodway’s Amanda Waldron and Michelle Nelson, 7-6 (7-4), 7-5 in the final May 16.

“Every time they play them it gets tighter and tighter, they’re learning to play them on a higher level,” Moreno said. “It was good to set them up for what they’re going to see at state. What I like about them is that they didn’t give up. They battled and never gave up.”

Bang and Hamman beat Tori Welch and Niki Pollack of Stanwood, 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 in the first round of districts and Corrine Mack and Kara Matsuzawa of Cascade, 6-4, 6-0 in the semifinals on May 15.

Chatilo, who came in as the Western Conference South Division’s No. 4 seed, beat Wesco North No. 1 seed Kelsey Mickels, 6-1, 6-2 in the first round on May 15.

Chatilo controlled the tempo and moved the ball around while changing speeds to coax Mickels to play to Chatilo’s strengths.

“It was kind of a battle of the wills, who was being more consistent,” Chatilo said.

Chatilo lost in the semifinals to Edmonds-Woodway freshman Kira Kearsley, 6-4, 6-4 May 15 but came back on May 16 to beat Danielle Elliott of Snohomish, 6-2, 6-2 to earn the third and final berth to state.

SHORECREST’S OWEN, DOUBLES TEAM MOVE ON: Shorecrest’s Alena Owen lost again to Arlington’s Slovakian superstar Ivana Krommelova, 6-0, 6-0 in the 3A District 1 singles final but earned the second seed to state. Owen, who went to state last year, will face Sandy Schmidt of Bremerton in the first round at 8:30 a.m. at Tri-Cities Court Club in Kennewick. Shorecrest’s doubles team of Natalie Simpson and Kyoka Izawa beat Sara Porteson and Lianne Fijalka of Meadowdale, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 to clinch the No. 1 seed to state. They will play Molly Mayer and Rebecca Chesnut of Eastmont at 10 a.m. at the Tri-Cities Court Club in the first round of state. Shorecrest’s Kelsey Monson and Lauren Olson who beat Simpson and Iwaza in the 3A Wesco final, missed out on a state berth because of an earlier loss to the Meadowdale pair. Shorecrest won the district team title.

BOYS 4A TENNIS IN VANCOUVER, 3A TENNIS IN TRI-CITIES: Tristan Reni and Scott McConnell took third in the boys 4A District 1 tennis tournament last fall to qualify for the state tournament at the Vancouver Tennis Center.

They will face Zach Hamilton and Joey Hoolihan of Bellarmine Prep at 11:30 a.m. Friday, May 23. Reni and O’Connell have worked out in the offseason, playing against competitive teams, Shorewood coach Arnie Moreno said.

McConnell’s grown three inches since the fall and stands about 6-foot, 2 inches and Reni is about the same height.

Moreno said McConnell’s become more of power player with the increase in size.

“They’re playing at a high level,” Moreno said. “If they get really on a roll they could be top-six placer. That’s how confident they are. They can play with just about anybody.”

Shorecrest’s Ricardo Cellis, a Brazilian exchange student, qualified for state as the No. 2 seed out of 3A District 1. He will play Justin Hike of Olympic High School at 10 a.m. Friday, May 23 at Kamiakin High School in Tri-Cities. Shorecrest’s doubles team of Brian Sharkey and Matt LaCourse also qualified as a No. 2 seed and will play Elliot Appel and Tam Nguyen of North Thurston at 8:30 a.m. at Kamiakin.