Doubles wins lead Bulldogs to tie with Vikings
SANDPOINT — Sandpoint notched impressive wins at No. 1 doubles in both boys and girls, leading Sandpoint to a 6-6 tie with Coeur d’Alene in nonleague tennis on Tuesday at Pine St. Park and Lakeview Courts.
Megan Rockwell and Kennedy Search notched arguably their best win of the season in straight sets, demonstrating the form that will make them tough at districts and possibly state.
“Kennedy was solid in every department, sharp groundies, solid volleys and big overheads,” said Anderson. “Megan can cover so much court with her speed and anticipation that it is hard for their opponents to hit clean winners. When they’re on, they have a lot of weapons. Today they were on.”
Alex Hon and Micah Buckmiller lost just one game in a convincing win at No. 1 boys doubles, and are playing confident heading into districts this weekend.
“It is really hard to get any momentum when facing serves like theirs,” said Anderson. “Alex can serve an almost untouchable left-handed slice serve and then Micah gives them huge right-handed power right up the gut.”
Anderson also praised Spencer Temple and Michael Durfee’s win at No. 2 boys doubles, as the pair won in a 10-7 tie-breaker for the third set.
“You can’t teach what it takes to play under that kind of pressure,” described Anderson.”You just have to experience it and these guys did not bend.”
Anderson played the same lineup he plans to take to districts, and feels his team is peaking at the right time.
The Bulldogs will play for state berths at the 4A Region 1 tournament on Friday and Saturday in Moscow.
SANDPOINT 6, COEUR d’ALENE 6
BOYS SINGLES — No. 1, Dakota Burden, Cd’A, d. Alvaro Garcia, 6-1, 6-1. No. 2, Lorenzo DeBernardi, Spt, d. Kyle Schneider, 6-2, 6-1. No. 3, Broc Storro, Spt, d. Ross Clark, 7-5, 6-1.
BOYS DOUBLES — No.1, Micah Buckmiller/Alex Hon, Spt, d. Owen Walker/Zack Stockert, 6-0, 6-1. No. 2, Spencer Temple/Michael Durfee, Spt, d. Ian Lynch/Pierre Schraebach, 6-4, 4-6, 10-7.
GIRLS SINGLES — No. 1, Caitlin McHugh, Cd’A, d. Bailey Scrimsher, 6-0, 6-1. No. 2, Cassidy Story, Spt, d. Megan Mitchell, 6-1, 6-1. No. 3, Abby Steed, Cd’A, d. Caroline Suppiger, 6-0, 6-1.
GIRLS DOUBLES — No. 1, Megan Rockwell/Kennedy Search, Spt, d. Lexi Carlson/Sonja Jocobson, 6-3, 6-4. No. 2, Courtney Gunnerson/Leah Langdon, Cd’A, d. Emily Chatburn/Sadie Nitchy, 7-5, 7-5.
MIXED DOUBLES — No. 1, Sloane Booterbaugh/John Campbell, Cd’A, d. Carson Nygren/Nicolette Jessen, 5-7, 6-3, 14-14. No. 2, Danyelle Keese/Johnny Dance, Cd’A, d. Collin Jurenka/Katie Mares, 6-4, 6-2.
n SANDPOINT 9, LAKELAND 3 (late)
RATHDRUM — Even though his No. 1 and No. 2 singles players lost in a 9-3 win over Lakeland recently in 4A Inland Empire League tennis action, Bulldogs head coach Kent Anderson felt they played their best tennis of the season in defeat.
Carson Nygren lost 6-2, 6-3 to Godwin Peck at No. 1, and Lorenzo DeBernardi lost 6-0, 5-7, 6-4 to Matthew Peck at No. 2 as the Lakeland boys swept the action.
All other scores were either defaults or 6-0, 6-0 in favor of Sandpoint, as Bailey Scrimsher and Cassidy Story won in singles, Katy Mares and Emily Chatburn in girls doubles and Spencer Temple and Nicolette Jessen in mixed doubles.
Anderson said the highlight of the match was DeBernardi’s three set loss, calling it a breakout match.
“Lorenzo came within inches of handing Peck his first loss of the season in a two-and-a-half hour marathon,” he said. “Lorenzo showed his best ground strokes of the season and earned a singles spot on the district team with this performance.”
Anderson also praised the play of Nygren in defeat against one of the top 4A players in the district, saying the match was closer than the score indicated.
“Both players sustained long hard-hitting rallies,” said Anderson. “This was a great performance by Carson, a doubles specialist, who played his first singles match in his four-year varsity career.”