Tennis duo plays hard at state tourney

YAKIMA — The state-qualifying Newport doubles of Emmalee Doughty and Olivia Sears started their state tournament well, winning the first set 6-3 over a Forest Ridge team.

But Forest Ridge came back to win the second set, then won the final set 7-6 (7-1).

That put Newport in a match with Lake Roosevelt. They never got their momentum back, losing in straight sets.

Newport coach Brandon McDaniel says state tournament play is different level of intensity and pressure that’s hard to replicate. He said the blame goes to him as a coach.

“I need to do a better job of preparing them and getting them to a level where they can find more success,” he says.

Doughty and Sears played hard, he says.

“They certainly battled and played their hearts out in both matches,” McDaniel says.

McDaniel says the highpoint for him was in the third set against Forest Ridge, when the Newport team never gave up.

“They were down 0-4 in the third set and came roaring back to take a 5-4 lead before eventually getting to the tie-break and couldn’t keep the momentum moving,” he says.

It was a great experience for the girls, he says, and the NE2B League did well, with Freeman winning the girls’ doubles and St. George’s winning the boys team championship.

Looking back at the season, he said the girls team finished third in the league in the district tournament, losing to Freeman by two points and to Chewelah, which has had a good tennis program for a while.

“They will be graduating one of their ace singles players and that should even the playing field a bit for NE2B teams,” McDaniel says. He says there should be a great fight for the girls’ district championship next year.

“We have a lot of returning players who I think are finding joy in the game and are excited to continue to pursue a great deal of success into next year,” he says.