Josh Jessen's wins highlight Sandpoint tennis' loss to Mead
(Photo courtesy of KENT ANDERSON) Sandpoint’s Josh Jessen and Cayden Kindred pose together after their three-set doubles win over Mead on April 2. The underclassmen won 6-2, 4-6, 10-4.
Led by underclassmen Josh Jessen and Tyler Korn, Sandpoint tennis fought valiantly in a 10-3 loss to Washington tennis powerhouse Mead on Tuesday afternoon.
“Even though we were short-handed, the experience we get from matches like this are the tough building blocks we need to get to our goal of a district title,” Sandpoint head coach Kent Anderson said in an email afterwards. “I’m proud of the effort and attitude of this team and the great team camaraderie. It has been pure joy coaching this group.”
Spring Break and illness to Anton Morau impacted the Sandpoint lineup, so the Bulldogs needed several players to step up against Mead.
Enter Josh Jessen, who moved up to the No. 3 singles spot and won his match in two, 7-5 sets.
Jessen followed that up by teaming with Cayden Kindred in doubles to win a 3 1/2 hour, three-set marathon — capped off with a 10-4 third-set tiebreaker.
“I would call this a career match for Josh who used a big first serve and his consistently strong backhand to pull out a hard fought victory,” Anderson said.
Tyler Korn rounded out the Sandpoint victories by, in Anderson’s words, “romping through his singles match in a shocking 6-0, 6-2 rampage” with his serves and strong forehand.
Although Jessen and Korn provided the wins for the Bulldogs, not everyone was as lucky on Tuesday.
Declan Plummer and Christian Story lost a heart-breaker at first doubles despite forcing a third set tie-break.
Maureen Wardle and Taryn McBride suffered a similar fate, as the duo took the first set in No. 4 doubles 6-2, then lost the tiebreaker in a close 10-8 match.
“They both served well in a dead-even match,” Anderson said. “Maureen’s volleys and Taryn’s ground strokes almost were enough to pull out the win.”
Allura Livingston played her first singles match of the year against Sophie Koehler, one of the top players in Washington.
“Even though she was unable to pull out a win, the experience was unbelievable for her,” Anderson said of Livingston’s matches. “This will only help her as we continue the trek toward districts.”
Speaking of districts, Sandpoint’s next match will be at 4A IEL foe Lakeland on April 8 at 2:30 p.m. The Hawks are the lone league team the Bulldogs haven’t faced this season; earlier this season, Sandpoint tied Moscow 6-6 on the road on March 26.
Sandpoint vs. Mead
Girls: Mead 8, Sandpoint 0
Boys: Mead 5, Sandpoint 3
Sandpoint athletes in bold
GIRLS SINGLES: No. 1. Sophie Koehler d. Allura Livingston, 6-0, 6-4. No. 2 Luca Mistereck d. Colleene McBride, 6-1, 6-0. No. 3. Phoebe Milatz d. Taryn McBride, 6-3, 6-2. No. 4. Cambry Robbins d. Emma Unger, 6-3, 6-0.
GIRLS DOUBLES: Sophie Koehler/Luca Mistereck d. Allura Livingston/Tessa Beeman, 6-4, 6-1. Ellie Holden/Maya Peck d. Lily Anderson/Denali Terry, 6-4, 6-2. Abby Sonnichsen/Nicole Arnold d. Taryn McBride/Maureen Wardle, 2-6, 6-4, 10-8. Anjali Gunning/Clara Singley d. Gabrianna Keller/Lily Anderson, 6-0, 6-0.
BOYS SINGLES: No. 1 Eric Liu d. Declan Plummer, 6-3, 6-1. No. 2 Kyle Kuka d. Christian Story, 6-0, 6-0. No. 3 Josh Jessen d. Joe Robl, 7-5, 7-5. No. 4 Tyler Korn d. Gavin Lies, 6-0, 6-2.
BOYS DOUBLES: Jimmy Barone/Jess Weaver d. Declan Plummer/Christian Story, 6-3, 4-6, 10-3. Sam Hartsfield/Elijah Gruen d. Tabor Dussault/Alex Linniard, 6-4, 6-4. Thomas Newman/Devin Michaels d. Tyler Korn/Cayden Kindred, 6-4, 6-0. Josh Jessen/Cayden Kindred d. Jeremy Broin/Parker Helgesen 6-2, 4-6, 10-8.