Raiders play hard to the finish

Raider tennis closed out the 2013 season last week with a match at home and districts at Eastmont.

At home May 7 against Entiat, the girls won 4-1 and the boys tied 1-all. Emily Williams defeated Autumn Noyes 7-6 (7-2), 6-0 and Hillary Carriere beat Emily Swearingen 8-6 for the girls’ singles wins. In doubles, Areielle White and Lyric Witten beat Alexis Swearingen and Taylor Long in three sets, 2-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-8). Their come-from-behind win was paired with Hayley Seylor’s and Harmony Witten’s victory over Rubee Noyes and Lisa Ayala, 6-1, 6-2.

The Raider boys were evenly matched with Entiat as both squads only had three players. Brandin Smith and Daniel Campobasso played a doubles match against Orfil Osmos and Wade Filbeck where they won 6-4, 6-2. Edmund Fenton played the singles match against Minwoo Park and came close to winning the second set before Park sealed the deal at 6-0, 7-5 in Park’s favor.

Last Saturday the Raiders travelled to Eastmont for day one of district action. The hot weather did not help matters but the Raiders pushed forward and Head Coach Steve Archer felt they gave it their all. Most of the Raiders’ matches were against former Caribou Trail League opponents and the difference in competition showed.

Daniel Campobasso won his first match against Matt Barnes of Chelan 6-2, 6-4. Coach Archer thought he played one of his best matches using his strengths as a tall player to his advantage. In his second match Campobasso faced Carlos Perez from Liberty Bell who was the number 6 overall in District 6. Campobasso hung in the matches with Perez for the most part , but Perez came away the victor 6-2, 6-3.

Brandin Smith faced a skillful opponent in Jerry Mendoza from Chelan. Because of the scoring rules, the set can end with one player ahead by only one point rather than the normal two. This played against Smith as he forced dueces in most of his games, but Mendoza was able to win. Smith lost his match 6-4, 6-2.

Edmund Fenton lost his match against the number-seven player in District 6, Trevor Terris of Tonasket 6-0, 6-0.

Emily Williams was the Raider girls’ number one, and won her first match against Erin Frey of Liberty Bell 6-4, 6-2. Facing Omak’s number one, Shaylyn Goodall, Williams won one game but lost 6-1, 6-0. Raider Hillary Carriere matched up against Evie LaGrou of Omak, to whom she lost 6-0, 6-0.

In doubles, Areielle White and Lyric Witten won their first match against Cueas and Valenzuela of Quincy 7-5, 6-2. White and Witten lost their second match of the day to Odegard and Kuch of Cascade 6-1, 6-0. Hayley Seylor and Harmony Whitten went up against Gshiel and Jeong of Tonasket and lost 6-0, 6-2. Tanya Ang and Kendra Descoteaux faced the number-six team in District 6 of Spanjer and Green from Cashmere and lost 6-0, 6-0.

None of the Raiders advanced to the second day of district play.

Coach Archer says his squad will miss the contributions made by seniors Hillary Carriere, Emily Williams, and Lyric Witten.

Archer thinks 11 players could return next year and that the team could develop into a future district competitor.

He also likes the plans for the tennis court at the school.

“One of the things we are looking forward to is going from the school who has the worst court condition to the best,” he said. “We have large cracks and no surfacing on our asphalt courts and it’s a rare thing for a game to be played without hitting a crack, necessitating a re-play.”