Chewelah Girls Tennis Wins District Title, Sends Three to State

Chewelah’s girls tennis team captured the district title and are slated to send three athletes to the state tournament after a strong showing at the 1B/2B district tournament. Simi Sahota qualified for state in girls singles, while Cora Grooms and Emily Howder earned a state berth in girls doubles. The trio are scheduled to compete May 22-23 in Yakima. In Chewelah’s league, only six girls and six boys advance to the state tournament. For Sahota, the trip marks a return to Yakima after years of training and high-level competition. For Grooms and Howder, the state berth was the result of a season-long goal after missing state last year by just two points, according to Chewelah coach Denise Smith. Grooms and Howder entered the 16-team doubles bracket as the No. 1 seed and needed to finish first or second to advance. After a first-round bye, the pair defeated Reardan 6-2, 6-1 in their only match on the first day. On the second day of the tournament, Grooms and Howder beat St. George’s 6-3, 6-1, using stronger net play and consistent service returns to move into the championship match. The Chewelah duo then faced Newport, a team they had defeated 6-1, 6-1 the previous week. Grooms and Howder dropped a close match 7-5, 6-4, sending them into a winnerto-state, loser-out match against St. George’s. Despite fatigue, sore muscles and bleeding feet, Grooms and Howder responded with a dominant 6-1, 6-1 victory to clinch a trip to state. Sahota controlled the singles bracket, losing just one game over three matches. She opened with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Thea Cruden of Kettle Falls, then beat Maris Vernon of Freeman 6-1, 6-0 in the semifinals. In the championship match, Sahota defeated Avery Boswell of Freeman 6-0, 6-0. Smith said Sahota used a mix of serving aces, drop slices and deep baseline groundstrokes to overwhelm opponents throughout the tournament. Sahota is expected to be seeded No. 1 at state after her district performance and previous state tournament success. She has finished second at state twice, behind her sister Avi Sahota, who now attends the University of Washington. Smith said she was proud of the girls team for qualifying three athletes for state and winning the district title and trophy, though she also expressed frustration with the tournament format. “The district tournament is to find the best two singles and doubles teams to represent our league at State,” Smith said. “Allowing 16 entries into each bracket, with every school getting at least one entry, watered down the talent and took way too long to get to the winners.” Smith said the format led to long waits and uneven competition, though it ultimately worked out for Chewelah. Also competing for the Chewelah girls were Mel Sands and Megan Watts. Both played in the single-elimination portion of the tournament and were eliminated. Sands played what Smith described as her “best tennis of the season,” using a variety of shots, but could not overcome Boswell’s consistency. Watts defeated Newport 6-0, 6-0 before falling. Sands and Watts are both seniors and have been important parts of the Chewelah tennis program, Smith said. On the boys side, Chewelah entered four players in the tournament. Atticus Freeman and Kal Georgiev competed in doubles, falling in the first elimination round to St. George’s. Smith said Georgiev played with both hands and chased down several balls, while Freeman used a strong two-handed backhand, but the St. George’s pair placed the ball better to earn the win. Luke Dituri opened singles play with a 6-0, 6-1 win over DJ Adkins of Newport. Dituri then lost to Jett Cobb of Freeman 6-1, 6-3 in the elimination round. Senior Alex Backman entered the boys singles bracket as the No. 4 seed and finished fourth. Backman defeated Colin Brennen of St. George’s 6-0, 7-5 before falling in a three-set match to Matthew Schultheis of St. George’s, 7-5, 4-6, 6-2. Backman then faced Freeman and lost 6-3, 6-4 in another hard-fought match. “Alex played his best tennis and gave it everything he had,” Chewelah coach Lindsay Baxter said.