Five tennis players to head to regionals

Following their May 9 girls’ victory and boys’ loss against Oroville, the Lake Roosevelt Raiders competed at the district tournament in Omak on Friday and Saturday, where five Raider tennis players qualified to compete at the regional level on Thursday, also in Omak.

“We are taking our second-place finisher Savannah Hobrecht in girls’ singles, fourth-place finishers Rylee Pitner and Alexia Ryan in girls’ doubles, and fourth-place finishers Malcolm Carson and Will Friedlander in boys’ doubles,” explained Head Coach Steve Archer.

“Savannah Hobrecht was the surprise of the tournament,” Archer said. “Being seeded at only number six, she worked her way through to play for the championship and take second place!”

In the first round, Hobrecht defeated Gwen Hankin (Oroville) 6-3, 6-2. In the quarter finals, Hobrecht defeated Celeste McTaggart (Entiat) 6-1, 6-2. In the semi- finals, Hobrecht defeated second-seed Lena Fuchs 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 6-0. But in the championship match, Hobrecht lost to Logan Butler (Liberty Bell) 6-7 (8-6), 6-3, 6-0.

“We were so proud of her,” Archer said. “She played steady and strong after a long day and walked away with a second-place ribbon.”

In the girls’ doubles, Pitner and Ryan took fourth. The pair defeated Gariano/Capote (Tonasket) 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4), lost to Matteson/Frey (Liberty Bell) 6-2, 6-1, defeated Martinez/Hernandez (Pateros) 6-2, 6-1, then lost to Davis/Arias (Entiat) 6-4, 6-3.

“They played stronger as the tournament went along, coming close to taking third place,” Archer said.

Carson and Friedlander, competing in boys’ doubles, took fourth place. The pair defeated Schell/Frazier (Tonasket) 6-0, 7-5; lost to eventual winners Hugus/Burnell (Oroville) 6-0, 6-0; defeated their own teammates Aiden Derr and Bradley Wilder 6-0, 6-1, then lost to Haley/White (Liberty Bell) 7-6 (7-2), 6-3, 1-0 (10-1).

“We were very pleased with our results,” Archer said.

The regional tournament starts on Thursday at 2 p.m. in Omak, at either Omak High School or the North Cascades Athletic Club, and finishes Saturday starting at 10 a.m.

The top three finishers in all four events qualify for state competition in Yakima the following weekend.