Knox captures tennis title

In tennis, sometimes a breeze is a good thing.

Such was the case for Katie Griffith, who breezed her way into the girls No. 1 singles championship at the 61st Annual Inland Empire Championships at Mead.

It was there that second-seeded Griffith met her match, losing to top-seeded Molly Knox of Hanford 6-4, 6-3.

Griffith, a sophomore at Ferris, hadn’t dropped a game heading into Saturday’s semifinal. Even then she cruised past Hellgate’s Margo Lentz, the third seed, 6-0, 6-2.

It was a different story in the championship.

Knox, a junior, had also cruised through her matches – beating Sandpoint’s Cody Helander 6-1, 6-0 in the semifinals.

Both Knox and Griffith, who met earlier in the season at the Pasco Invitational (Knox won in three sets), had trouble holding their service games in the first set. Knox maintained an edge, making most of her first serves. Griffith had some trouble with her serve.

“(Katie’s) serve wasn’t on. A higher percentage would have helped,” said Ferris coach Mike McLauchlin.

Knox also capitalized on Griffith’s slower second serves.

“My second serve wasn’t that good today, so she had a lot of chances to attack it,” said Griffith.

Griffith broke Knox’s serve to go up 4-3. Knox battled back, breaking Griffith twice and holding her serve to end the first set.

Although the score did not show it, Griffith came out tougher after the first set.

“I sort of broke down mentally in the first set. I calmed down and did better in the second set,” said Griffith.

Wind became a factor in the second set, causing both girls a higher number of unforced errors. Knox broke Griffith at 4-2 and held her serve to win the match.

Griffith was disappointed with the loss, but not with herself.

“I was playing really well, she just came out stronger,” said Griffith.

“When you play someone of that caliber you don’t have a lot of opportunities to miss,” said McLauchlin.

Gonzaga Prep’s Andrea Driscoll won the girls No. 2 singles final, beating Janelle Talbot of Richland 6-2, 7-5.

In boys singles, Danny Plesha of Sunnyside defeated Richland’s Brano Valach 6-0, 6-2 in the No. 1 final. University’s Josh Steele placed third by default. In No. 2 singles, Coeur d’Alene’s Matt Marceau defeated Cutis Lan of Hanford 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.

Nick Johnson and Chris Martin of Lewis and Clark won the No. 1 doubles championship on the boys’ side, defeating Elliot Martin and Chris Shallman of Richland 7-6 (7), 6-3. LC’s Graham Norton and Nils Ringo won the No. 2 doubles final with a 7-6 (4), 6-2 win over Mead’s Ethan Burns and Taylor Beeson.

In girls doubles, Nikki Chambers and Gabe Madson of Moses Lake won the No. 1 final for the second straight year with a 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (4) win over Kennewick’s Natalie and Nicole Kirsch. In the No. 2 doubles final, Southridge’s Keri Salemme and Stephanie Hamilton beat Coeur d’Alene’s Sarah Lohrey and Kathleen Noss 6-2, 6-3.

Laura Sainsbury and Torrey Brantner of West Valley (Yakima) won the No. 1 mixed doubles, defeating Laurel Thompson and John Sampson of Richland 6-2, 6-4. The No. 2 mixed doubles champions were Amy Esmay and John Hackney of G-Prep. They defeated University’s Jessica Steele and Carlos Campos 6-3, 6-3.

Richland won the team championship, while last year’s team champion, Ferris, took second. G-Prep and LC tied for third place.