Monday, March 18, 2024

Senior Taylor Kelly heads back to state tennis tournament

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Cascade is sending one player to state in 2017. No surprise, Taylor Kelly is returning. The talented senior finished second at the District 6 Championships over the weekend in Omak. 

On her way to the championship match, she defeated a player from Oroville 6-0, 6-0, then Jenna Buscko from Omak 6-0, 6-0. She lost in the championship game 6-1, 6-0 to Paiton Wagner of Cashmere. 

“Taylor played Paiton as well as anyone could and I was impressed with her performance. I am so proud of Taylor. Taylor is playing the best tennis she’s played all year and she made quick work of the quarterfinal and semifinal opponents. Taylor is mentally and physically prepared for any opponent she faces at state,” said Joey Johanson, Cascade head coach. 

Johanson felt Kelly received a great draw at the state tournament. She will play Rose Melville of Lind-Ritzville-Sprague in her first match. Tournament play begins Friday at the Yakima Tennis Club. 

The girls’ doubles team of Katie Schiefelbein and Brook McDevitt were not able to advance to state, but Johanson said they played the best match of their tennis careers last Saturday. 

In the semifinals, they played the number one seed from Okanogan, Shelby Walker and Megan Patrick. 

“This doubles team from Okanogan is possibly the best doubles team in the state as they took second place at state last year. Katie and Brooke shocked everyone when they won the first set 6-3. Then the second set was lost by a score of 3-6,” Johanson said. “In the third set, the girls from Cascade were in command at 2-0 and then 5-3. At 5-3, Cascade had match point and a chance to shock the District 6 tennis world. The battled out a tough point that eventually went to Okanogan. Okanogan rallied back and found a way to beat our girls 7-5. Final match score, 6-3, 3-6, 5-7.”

As a coach, Johanson said he was on the edge of his seat, nervous and excited. 

“A win in that match would have secured a berth to state. Our girls came out with a great strategy to both play back which through Okanogan for a loop and kept them out of their rhythm all match,” he said. “The drawback to having such an exciting and close match as that is that our girls were physically and emotionally spent afterwards. The match lasted for two and a half hours.”

The Cascade duo lost in the semifinals to a doubles team from Tonasket, 6-4, 6-1. Johanson said they would have beaten that team nine times out of 10, but given the circumstances, they just couldn’t get it together. 

“It’s a hard way to lose, but I couldn’t be more proud of Katie and Brooke. They saw many ups and downs this season, but remained true to who they are and took third in league and almost knocked off the best team in the state at districts. It was an absolute honor and joy to coach these girls,” Johanson said. 

The growth of the whole tennis team was amazing this year, he said. 

“This was showcased this weekend by our district participants. I cannot reiterate enough how much of an honor it is/was to coach these girls. They’re the type of girls that will have success in whatever they choose to do in life because of their hard work and perseverance,” he said. 

Ian Dunn can be reached at 548-5286 or editor@leavenworthecho.com.

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