Search, Kyllonen go undefeated at IE tennis

SPOKANE — Laney Search and Khloe Kyllonen took down the No. 3 seed from LaSalle in the No. 1 girls doubles draw, advancing into the championship round on Friday during a wet day one of the Inland Empire Tennis Tournament in Spokane.

The Sandpoint juniors, who finished second at state last season, gained valuable experience by winning all three matches on Friday, facing teams from all over the Northwest in one of the biggest high school tennis tournaments in the nation.

They won 4-6, 6-1, (10-3 third set tie-breaker) over Othello’s No. 1 team in what head coach Kent Anderson termed an inspiring come-from-behind victory.

“All this after being on the court, between rain delays, from 9:30 a.m. to 6:15 p.m.,” said Anderson, as much of the early morning action was rained out. “Laney controlled the net all day and Khloe served with methodical precision, hitting an astounding percentage of first serves in.”

Cassidy Story had a tough first round draw at No. 1 girls singles, losing to University High’s top player. In the consolation, she came back and won her next two matches to earn a spot in the the semis of the championship rounds.

Liz Parsley and Cory Diehl teamed up at No. 1 mixed to win the quarterfinals, the last of the Bulldogs still playing today after earning a spot in the consolation semis.

Violet Plummer and Caroline Suppiger won two matches at No. 2 doubles, before being eliminated in the quarters of the main draw.

“This was one of Sandpoint’s strongest Inland Empire showings over the past several years,” said Anderson, who has one of deepest teams ever at Sandpoint, with much of the varsity primed for state berths.