MILL CREEK — Mike Maldazys and Sam Zipper couldn’t keep the ball rolling in the finals of last week’s Western Conference South Division boys tennis doubles tournament.
After dropping the first set to Shorewood’s Scott Bourne and Steve McCall, the Edmonds-Woodway seniors battled back to claim the second set before ultimately falling to the defending Class 4A state champions 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 Oct. 21 at Jackson High School.
Whatever momentum Maldazys and Zipper had following the second set seemed to dissipate early as Bourne and McCall won four straight games to start the third set.
“Basically, they just came out with a lot of energy,” Maldazys said. “We kind of lost our energy after the second set.”
Both duos advanced to this week’s Northwest District 4A tournament, which is scheduled to wrap up today (Friday, Oct. 29) at Stanwood High School.
Maldazys and Zipper won their first two matches in straight sets and then bested Shorewood’s Aaron Lee and Nomar Mapalo 6-7 (6-8) 6-1, 6-2 in the semifinals.
“In our semifinal match, we had a lot of energy and that really helps us through it,” Maldazys said. “But in this match (finals) we came out a little bit flat, so we really need to build up the energy.”
The two doubles teams could end up facing each other again at districts, which would be fine with Zipper.
“We think we could have won it, but we’re fine waiting and seeing what happens next in districts,” Zipper said. “I think we need to execute a little better. We had big points. We missed some easy shots. We just need to finish the points that we had.”
During the regular season Maldazys and Zipper played singles, but the teammates are doubles partners outside of school.
The finals started late in the afternoon and concluded pretty much in the darkness, though the courts were illuminated by lights.
“The biggest lesson is the importance of adjusting to the conditions,” Maldazys said.
Jackson’s Mike Reading successfully defended his league singles crown with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over teammate Alex Yee in the singles final.
Reading rallied from a 5-4 deficit in the first set and then had to overcome a 3-0 deficit in the second set.
Edmonds-Woodway’s Reid Fenning took fourth place in singles. Alex and Drew Eli of Meadowdale ended up taking third in doubles and Edmonds-Woodway’s Tyler Grennan and Joe McCleary finished fifth.
Assistant sports editor Charlie Laughtland contributed to this story.
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