Granite Falls squeaked out a 4-3 win over the visiting Coupeville High School tennis team Friday, March 27.
“The girls were very competitive against a tough Granite Falls squad,” coach Ken Stange said. “It certainly would have been great to win, but we did pick up three strong individual wins. Also, two of our losses were closely contested.”
The Wolves earned their points with wins from Ana Luvera (7-5, 6-1) in fourth singles, and in second and third doubles from Sage Renninger and Wynter Thorne (6-1, 7-6[8-6]) and Ivy Luvera and Micky LeVine (6-1, 6-3).
Ana Luvera got off to a slow start, Stange said, but “settled down and found a way to take the lead, eventually closing out the set by winning three straight games” before winning the second set easily.
After a dominating first set, Renninger and Thorne held on to nab a close second set. The pair “balanced consistency with power,” Stange said.
With the win, the duo earned the Players of the Match Award, Stange said.
In third doubles, Ivy Luvera and LeVine used their experience to snare the win, Stange said. “This is where our depth shows.”
Jacki Ginnings fell 6-1, 6-3 in first singles in a match “closer than the score suggests,” Stange said. “Most of the games went to deuce, and there were quite a few long rallies.”
In the day’s closest match, sophomore Valen Trujillo lost 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in second singles.
“Since day one of last season,” Stange said, “Valen has given it 100 percent. Today was no exception. In a two-and-a-half hour battle, Valen covered a lot of ground. She is new to singles, and almost beat a 12th grader who’s been playing singles for two-plus years.”
Sydney Autio lost the third singles match 6-3, 6-0; and Payton Aparicio and McKenzie Bailey fell in first doubles 6-4, 7-5.
“Payton and McKenzie played very well together and had chances to win against a Granite Falls pair who is playing together for the second straight year,” Stange said. “McKenzie has been a strong leader for our team, and Payton has delivered a big boost of talent to our team.”
The Wolves added two JV doubles wins: Bree Daigneault/Jazmine Franklin won 8-1, and McKenzie Meyer/Haleigh Deasy won 8-2.
Coupeville (1-2) plays at longtime rival Friday Harbor at 2:30 p.m. Friday, April 3.
