Cascade girls wins district tennis title, advance to state

Cascade High seniors Dorothy Espinosa and Molly Evans will have a chance to end their high school tennis careers on a high note, as do teammates Stella Johnson and Molly Wiser with their sophomore season.

All four girls placed in the top three at the Caribou Trail League-Central Washington B District 6 tournament on May 18 to win the District 6 team title with 21 points, as well as advance to the state championships.

Espinosa finished second in the Girls Singles bracket. After a two-set win against Tonasket’s Julie Bello, she battled through a tough opponent in CWB champion Liberty Bell’s Ruthann Matteson (7-6 (3), 0-6, 7-6 (4)) to reach the finals. In her last contest, Espinosa fell to CTL champion Emma McLaren (6-2, 6-0).

Wiser finished third in the bracket after she went 3-1. After a win over Lake Roosevelt’s Alexa Ryan, (6-3, 6-3) Wiser fell to McLaren in two sets.

In the consolation round, Wiser bounced back to defeat Cashmere’s Kate Cooper, (6-1, 6-1) in the consolation semifinals and Matteson, (6-3, 7-5) in the third-place match.

Evans and doubles partner Johnson placed second in the Girls Doubles division. 

The Cascade pair earned two set wins over their Tonasket opponents, (6-1, 6-0) and Okanogan adversaries, (6-3, 6-4) to reach the finals. In the championship round, the Kodiak duo fell to bracket champions, Cashmere’s Aleah and Lauren Kert (6-1, 6-1).

Hans Schlyer, who finished fourth in the CTL Championships, went 0-2 in the boys singles division.

All four girls will advance to the 1B/2B/1A Tennis State Championships at the Yakima Tennis Club, May 24-25.

Espinosa, Wiser and Johnson will be competing in their first state tournament.

This will be Evans’ third state competition. As a freshman, she and partner Eba Keziah finished seventh in the 2016 tournament. Last year, Evans and Maddie Vandel placed fifth.