Trio of Sandpoint High tennis stars competes in Spokane tourney

Sandpoint High rising sophomore Pepper Rickert, rising senior Aubrey Knowles, and 2024 graduate Sydney Webb, all represented Sandpoint well at the L5 End of Summer Classic held Aug. 16-18 at the ParkFit Athletic Club in Spokane Valley.

Knowles and Webb, the 2024 4A state doubles runner-ups, played both singles and doubles in the U18 division while Rickert, the 2024 4A singles champion, played singles in the U16 division and doubles in the U18 division. 

Rickert, who has been rehabbing a torn muscle in her mid-back, was coming off a five-week hiatus. The time off must have helped as she was firing on all cylinders throughout the entire tournament. She captured a gold medal in singles after winning the championship match 6-0, 6-0. In doubles, she and her partner, Rhoda Wang of Pullman High, won gold in the doubles tournament. Wang also won the U18 singles division. 

“Pepper’s serving was impeccable, combining bombs with placement to completely unravel her opponents,” Sandpoint High head coach Kent Anderson said. “She returned to her slashing attack style with almost no pain in her back. Pepper’s 6-0, 6-0 victory in the finals was a pretty definitive description of her dominance.”

In doubles, Rickert and Wang took on the No.1-seeded team in the U18 finals. The pair trailed 3-0 before they got their game back on track, winning five straight sets to take a 5-3 lead. They went on to win the match by a score of 8-6.

Webb made it all the way to the back draw finals in the U18 singles division before losing to Coeur d’Alene’s No. 1 player, Caitlin Combs. She took home a fourth place medal for her efforts. Coach Anderson said the match of the tournament was in the back draw semifinals, where Webb won 16-14 in a third set tiebreaker after a two and a half hour long match.

    Sandpoint High rising sophomore Pepper Rickert shows off the gold medals she won in U16 singles and U18 doubles.