Prep girls tennis: W.F. West top duo qualifies for 2A state tourney
May 16—It was far from the typical ceremonious celebration. Still, the W.F. West High School girls tennis team's No. 1 doubles pair had plenty of reasons to smile.
Lilly Hueffed and Katelyn Wood triumphed in a winner to state match and ended up finishing in fourth place during Thursday's final day of the Class 2A District 4 tournament in Vancouver.
"I was filled with happy emotions," Wood said. "It was meant to be."
Hueffed and Wood's opponents were up 4-2 in the opening set, but the two Bearcats had won the previous game to close the gap.
Then play stopped due to one of the players on the other side of the net having an uncontrollable nose bleed. Time allotted for injury is 15 minutes or the result is an injury default.
It went over 15 minutes and it gave Huffed and Wood a spot at the state tournament next week at the Nordstrom Tennis Center in Seattle.
"I am really excited for them," Bearcats head coach Megan Wellander said. "State is a cool experience and now they get to enjoy it because they earned it. I said 'You did it' and we hugged. You have to find joy. It is not a fluke or an accident that we made it there."
A week after losing in the sub-district title match against their teammates, Hueffed and Wood fell in the first round and were faced with a slight uphill climb.
They had to win two more matches to reach state.
"We definitely knew we had to come in confident or we didn't have a chance to get very far," Hueffed said. "That (first round loss) affected us. The biggest thing we were able to do was bounce back from that."
Now, Hueffed and Wood will guarantee themselves at least two more matches next Friday. Potential placement would come the following day if they can snare a victory.
Which Wood believes would be the cherry on top.
"I think we'll strive to have fun and do our best," she said. "It has been stressful, so we want to make state a fun adventure. Enjoy the experience and still play our best tennis."
Sub-district doubles champs Ellie Mittge and Ema Weerasinghe will also head to state as alternates. The tandem beat the duo from Hockinson in the alternate spot match, the same duo that beat them in the first round.
"They got it done," Wellander stated.
Tumwater's Chloe Henderson, the singles champion from sub-districts, lost in a winner to state match.
