Cougars Continue to Roll

Chewelah tennis turned in a busy and successful week on the court, collecting wins over Lind-Ritzville/Sprague (LRS) and Colville, taking the upper hand in a weather-shortened match against Reardan, and battling St. George’s to a competitive split.

Chewelah opened the stretch April 13 at Sprague with a 3-1 win in girls play and a 3-0 sweep in boys competition against LRS. In girls' singles, Mel Sands earned a straight-set win at No. 1, 6-2, 6-4, while the doubles teams of Makayla Skeels and Myah Atkinson, and Gabrielle Fazio and Kaly Dapler, both won in straight sets. On the boys' side, Alex Backman, Luke Dituri, and Atticus Freeman each posted singles victories, with Backman winning 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1.

Two days later, Chewelah hosted Reardan in difficult weather conditions and did enough early to claim the girls’ victory before rain, hail and wind cut the match short. Megan Watts won 6-0, 6-1 at No. 1 singles, Mailee Ford was leading at No. 2, and Sands was awarded a win at No. 3 after Chloe Butterfield retired because of injury. Several doubles and boys' matches were left unfinished as the weather worsened.

Chewelah then welcomed Colville on April 16, and earned a convincing home victory, with the Cougars taking the girls competition 8-2 and the boys side 2-0. Ford picked up a 6-4, 6-3 win in girls singles, while Chewelah controlled much of doubles play. Backman and Freeman won 6-1, 6-1 in boys' doubles, and Dituri and Kal Georgiev followed with a 6-1, 6-0 victory. Colville’s top girls singles player, Julia, defeated Watts 6-3, 6-0, but the Cougars took command in most of the remaining flights.

Chewelah finished the week April 17 against St. George’s in another tightly contested matchup. The Cougar girls edged St. George’s 4-3, while the boys split 2-2. In singles, Simi Sahota, Watts, and Ford all earned wins for Chewelah’s girls.

"Our biggest highlight is Simi Sahota has now played 11 different opponents and has won 96 games and only lost one," Chewelah Head Coach Denise Smith said. "Many people think her biggest competition in the state is Reagan Heller from St. George’s, whom she beat 6-0, 6-0."

The doubles teams of Cora Grooms and Emily Hayder, and Jillian Fazio and Oliver Stobler, also came through with victories. For the boys, Dituri battled back for a three-set win over Colin Brennan, while Chewelah split the other varsity contests.