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MEDICAL LAKE — Monday’s March 24 game with Reardon was rained out but Newport played Medical Lake the next day and both the boys and girls teams got 3-2 wins at home.
On the girls’ side, first doubles team Olivia Sears and Emmalee Doughty won in two sets 6-1, 6-1 to secure the team win.
“Olivia and Emma continue to grow and are looking strong this year,” Newport coach Brandon Mc-Daniel says. The No. 2 girls’ doubles team of Olivia Jackman Grace Keck also got a 6-2, 6-1 win.
In singles play, No. 2 singles Lindsay Collison got a win in a 10-4 tie breaking third set. Marisa Dahl and Heaven Cooper lost at No. 1 and No. 3 singles.
In boy’s play, all three singles players won, which was good, as Newport forfeited the two doubles matches because of lack of players.
Preston Davis looked strong at No. 1 singles, despite a second set slide, McDaniel says. He won the third set 10-2.
Jeffery Newman won at No. three singles after Luke Wright took a two-set win at No. 2 singles.
“Jeff is really entertaining to watch and you can tell he enjoys the game,” McDaniel says.
Wednesday, March 26, the girls team entertained Colville, which only has a girls team.
“Our singles got routed and unfortunately that put the match out of our reach,” McDaniel says.
Even though Dahl, Collison and Cooper lost in No. 1, 2 and 3 singles, to good Colville players, McDaniel says Cooper has improved.
“Heaven really came a long way in her match, though,” he says. “Her confidence really started to show, and I was impressed with her approach and how she competed the whole match.”
The doubles teams did better. “Our doubles were extremely strong again with Emma and Olivia doing what they do which is finding a way to win all year so far,” he says of Sears and Doughty at No. 1singles. They won in two sets. Jackman and Grace at No. 2 doubles also had a good match, winning in three sets.
“Olivia and Grace was a great match to watch,” McDaniel says. After winning the first set, they lost the second. McDaniel says he spoke with them about the metal game after the second match. They almost had the third set and the match won a couple times before putting it away with an 11-9 win.
“Those are the kinds of matches that wear me out as a coach watching them battle and the back and forth when it is that close,” he says. He says Keck is in her first year of tennis as a sophomore and has a great foundation in her serve and forehand. “Her talent along with Olivia Jackman’s experience should be a great doubles team for the year that can compete against the other teams in our league.”
The teams are scheduled to be at home Wednesday, April 2, against an undetermined opponent, then are off for spring break.
