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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Fong Outlasts Foe For Repeat Crown Whitten Can’t Break Through; Mead Dominates In Tennis

Long after the other George Gee Pontiac District 8 high school tennis championships had been determined, Amy Fong of Mead and Leslie Whitten of University were jousting for girls singles supremacy.

“Between the two of us, we tend to constantly slug out ground strokes,” Fong said following her exhausting 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 victory. “It’s a consistency battle.”

The two engaged in long rallies that went to deuce and beyond in duplicating last year’s district final result.

“This is the way they were last year,” said Panthers coach Al Rettmann. “They’re good players.”

While three other championships were over in an hour, the Fong-Whitten match went twice as long.

Mead players won three of four championships. Sophomore Ryan Moran in boys singles and Brett Kaiser and Eric Donovan in boys doubles won in straight sets.

Ferris’ returning state runner-up girls team of Darcy Ruemping and K.C. Richards also swept to a title.

Rain forced a move from Central Valley to University High School for the finals matches and to Ferris for consolation competition.

Moran lost serve to open his contest with Lewis and Clark’s Brandon Bale, but rallied for a 6-3, 6-0 victory.

“I wasn’t really moving; I was lazy out there,” said Moran. “Then I started mixing my serves and going to the net a lot.”

State veterans but first-time doubles partners Kaiser and Donovan dispatched Central Valley’s Brad Heaton and Chris Trefry 6-2, 6-4 with powerful serves and strong net play.

“Everything came together,” said Kaiser. “We’re clicking as a team.”

Ruemping and Richards were within match point of a state title last year, but had not planned a return.

“We had done well before and at the last minute decided to do it again,” said Richards.

Said Ruemping, “I feel we left something unfinished and didn’t want to pass up the opportunity.”

They completed their repeat district title with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Lewis and Clark’s Anna Adolphson and Julie Mattox.

None of the matches had the drama of the Fong-Whitten final. The two longtime foes and soon-to-be Whitman College teammates have met numerous times.

“Last year, Amy’s mindset was trying to hit winners,” said Rettmann. “This year, she has a variety of shots and it’s made a huge difference.”

In the final, she said she was OK with her serves but didn’t make as many returns as she wanted. Although successful returning Fong’s offerings, Whitten had trouble holding her own serve.

“It wasn’t great,” she said of her match. “I didn’t hit a lot of shots.”

All finalists will play for state berths in Friday’s and Saturday’s regional tournament at Central Valley.

Rounding out the Greater Spokane League field of four in the tournament against athletes from the Big Nine League are consolation bracket survivors.

, DataTimes