Coupeville Sports

  Wolf tennis coach Ken Stange and his doubles warriors, Aaron Curtin (center) and Ben Etzell. (Ed Curtin photo)

It was a trip.

From windswept, rainy days on The Rock in October to sunny days in the “Palm Springs of Washington” (AKA Yakima) this week, Ben Etzell and Aaron Curtin went out swinging for the top.

The Coupeville High School duo went further than any Wolf boys’ tennis players in memory, winning one of their three matches at the 1A state tourney Friday.

While they didn’t bring home a medal, it was still an auspicious showing for a duo who had been concentrating on baseball, not tennis, less than a week ago.

“Considering that they had four days to prepare, once baseball ended, I’m happy with the result,” said Wolf coach Ken Stange. “Aaron and Ben were the only CHS athletes to compete at the state level in two events — and they did it all in less than a week!”

Etzell and Curtin qualified for state in the fall, then had to wait six months for the chance to play in the big dance.

Some 1A schools play boys’ tennis in the spring, others in the fall in Washington, but state is saved for the end of the school year.

The Wolf duo opened against Neil Campbell and Jedi Main of Naches Valley and fought hard in a narrow 6-3, 7-6(7-4) loss that dropped them into the losers brackets.

“The first match was a doozy — within reach,” Stange said. “They rocked it in the second match!”

With their backs against the wall, Etzell and Curtin drilled Daniel Sonnichsen and Fletcher Rickabaugh of Liberty Bell 6-3, 6-1. They then fell 6-2, 6-3 to Pranav Harikrishnan and Keshav Ummat of Overlake, who were both state meet vets.

If Coupeville had won its third match, the Wolves would have played for fifth place Saturday.