LC’s Gullickson places 3rd
Lewis and Clark senior Anna Gullickson knew coming into Saturday’s conclusion of the State 4A tennis championships at University High that she would earn a top-five finish and her first medal.
But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t sweet.
“I’ve been working for this for so long, and I finally made it,” Gullickson said after defeating April Ohno of Kentridge 6-2, 6-1 in the girls singles third/fifth place match. “It feels awesome. I’m so excited.”
Gullickson dominated the match from the outset, taking full control in the second set.
“(I focused on) getting my serves in, because I struggled with my serves in the first set,” Gullickson said, “then I just stayed consistent and made her make errors.”
Gullickson rebounded well from her 6-1, 6-0 semifinal loss to Bellarmine Prep’s Suzie Matzenauer about three hours earlier.
“I knew it was gonna be really tough, but she was just hitting really well,” Gullickson said of Matzenauer. “I’ve always heard about how good she was, and I think I overplayed a little bit to try and match her.”
Led by Gullickson’s performance, LC scored 12 points to finish second in the team standings. Bellarmine Prep won their third straight girls title with 26.
On the boys’ side, Ferris junior Adam Kret also advanced to the medal round, where he lost to Kyle Schraeder of Auburn Riverside 6-4, 6-0 in the fourth/sixth place match.
After losing to Schraeder in Friday’s first round, Kret won three straight matches to become the lone GSL boys medalist.
“It’s a good feeling, because I’m the only guy from the GSL,” Kret said, “but I’m a little upset, you know? It isn’t where I wanted to be in my first (state) tournament, but I guess that’s what tennis is about.”
LC sophomores Ben Gullickson and Elise Otto both worked their way into consolation semifinals, but were eliminated one match short of the medal round. Schraeder defeated Gullickson 7-6 (5), 6-0, while Otto lost to Bellarmine Prep’s Amy Markhoff 7-5, 6-3. Markhoff eventually finished fourth for the second straight year, defeating Natalia Agarycheva 6-2, 6-2 in the medal round.
Both reigning singles champions repeated, and the Bellarmine Prep girls doubles team of Alita Fisher and Katie Kennel won for the third straight year, defeating Megan Havili and Judy Liening of Todd Beamer 6-4, 6-0.
South Kitsap junior Stephanie Davison, a three-time state finalist, won her second championship, defeating Matzenauer 7-5, 6-4.
Davison, who didn’t drop a game in the first three rounds, was tested by Matzenauer, who served for the first set at 5-4. However, three games later, Davison won the set and Matzenauer lost her cool, earning a one-point penalty for hitting a ball against the fence surrounding the court and striking her racquet on the court.
On the boys’ side, Decatur junior Christopher Rice defeated Hudson’s Bay junior Spencer Mendoza 6-1, 6-4 in a meeting of the previous two state champions. Mendoza won the title in 2003 and lost to eventual champion Rice last year.
Defending boys doubles champions Scott Bourne and Steve McCall of Shorewood had already fallen into the consolation bracket Friday by losing to eventual champions Eric Otto and Alex Hart of Kamiakin. But by losing to teammates Normar Mapalo and Aaron Lee 6-7 (7), 6-3, 7-6 (4), the Shorewood seniors failed to earn medals.
Otto and Hart defeated Joe Galbraith and Brian McPhee of Bellarmine Prep 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Anchored by Galbraith and McPhee’s performance, Bellarmine Prep shared the boys team title with Wenatchee with 15 points.