Coupeville High School’s Amanda d’Almeida finished third in the 1A Northwest District tennis tournament Thursday and Saturday, May 9 and 11, at South Whidbey High School, just missing a berth in the tri-district tournament.

Coupeville’s three other district entries were eliminated after round two of the double-elimination tournament.

D’Almeida, who won three consecutive district doubles titles, competed in singles this spring and fell to South Whidbey’s Newman sisters, Hayley and Carly.

She opened the competition with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Blaine’s Elizabeth Berry. She then lost to eventual champion Hayley Newman 6-3, 6-3 in the semifinals.

Dropped into the consolation bracket, d’Almeida stopped Abbi Steele of Nooksack Valley 6-1, 6-0 and Blaine’s Saskia Dolk 6-1, 7-5.

That put d’Almeida in the match for second place with Carly Newman; Newman won 6-1, 7-6(7-3).

Coupeville coach Ken Stange called the win over Dolk “perhaps Amanda’s best win of the season.”

Dolk defeated d’Almeida earlier in the season. In the rematch, d’Almeida dominated the first set and then was forced to adjust as Dolk changed strategy in the second. When the second set went into a tie-breaker, d’Almeida “did what she has always down well,” Stange said. “She played each shot like it was a move in a game of chess.”

D’Almeida fell behind early in the match with Carly Newman, then recovered to push the second set to a tie-breaker.

In other singles action, senior Iris Rychaert lost 6-1, 6-0 to Carly Newman and 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 to Steele.

In doubles, seniors  Holly Craggs and Emily Gallahar lost to Blaine’s Alicia Allison and Shirin Roth-Lerner 6-0, 6-3 and to Friday Harbor’s Meagan Anderson and Ashton Timmons 6-1, 4-6, 6-2.

Freshmen Samantha Martin and Sydney Autio dropped their first match 6-0, 6-0 to eventual champions Emily Grayston and Alex Henderson of Blaine 6-0, 6-0, and then to Friday Harbor’s Maddy Marinkovich and Roxanne Bormann 6-1, 6-0.

Stange said, “Both my teams fought hard, but the tournament was packed with talented teams. It was a good experience for the ninth graders.”