Warriors stay unbeaten

EDMONDS — Edmonds-Woodway clinched a win over Shorewood thanks to a come-from-behind victory at No. 2 doubles by Sean Laue and Jacob Trieu.

Trieu reached up and dropped in an unreturnable shot at the feet of Shorewood’s Scott McConnell after McConnell and partner Tristan Reni had fought off five match points at Edmonds-Woodway High School. Laue and Trieu held a 5-2 lead in the third set, but Reni and McConnell cut it to 5-4 before succumbing, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.

“It’s probably the best match we’ve had this year,” Laue said. “They pushed us.”

The Warriors, who improved their Western Conference South Division record to a perfect 14-0 with the win on Oct. 8, swept the No. 1, 2 and 3 singles matches. Senior Scott Sheldon beat Shorewood senior Jake Douglass, 6-0, 6-1 in the No. 1 singles match to improve to 12-1 on the year.

“I hit my forehand well in the match,” Sheldon said. “I thought I played solid today.”

The Warriors’ Willie Guo ran his record to 12-2 on the year with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Shorewood sophomore Spencer Shin at No. 2 singles.

“I think I’m playing decent,” Guo, a junior, said. “(But) I’ve got a lot more work to do.”

Edmonds-Woodway junior Ryan Cho beat Dan Gnanapagasm 6-0, 6-1 at No. 3 singles while Shorewood senior Andy Stern knocked off senior Steven Guo (no relation to Willie Guo), 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 at No. 4 singles.

Shorewood coach Corliss Liekkio moved her top two singles players, seniors Spenser Mestel and Jesse Knutson, to No. 1 doubles and her two top doubles teams down a place. She hoped the T-birds (10-4 Wesco South) could sweep the doubles matches and win the meet but the Warriors took two of three doubles matches to prevail. Edmonds-Woodway’s No. 3 doubles team of seniors Joe Barry and Sam Robertson rallied to defeat senior Thomas Benjamin and junior Daniel McAuliffe, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.

Meanwhile, Mestel and Knutson improved to 3-0 as a doubles team with a 6-3, 6-2 win over seniors Evan Whitson and Jared Major.

“Jesse is really good at serving and volleying,” Mestel said. “Groundstrokes are my strong suit.”

Mestel and Knutson are gearing up to play doubles in the postseason, which starts Oct. 19 at the Wesco South Division tournament at Jackson High School and Harbor Square Athletic Club in Edmonds. The duo finished fourth in District 1 last year and hopes to be one of the three doubles teams that qualify for state from the district this year.

Edmonds-Woodway coach Dan Crist said he and his players haven’t decided who will play singles and doubles in the postseason.

However, Sheldon, who qualified for state in doubles last year, said he’d like to play doubles this postseason with Willie Guo and make a run at state. This past year, the pair has played in U.S. Tennis Association tournaments and had some success, Sheldon said.