Dahlia Miller launches an ace. (Julie Wheat photos)
Decent weather, bright future.
A new season of Coupeville High School girls’ tennis kicked off Monday under partially sunny prairie skies, with not a drop of rain to be found in the vicinity.
That allowed the Wolves, who will boast an expanded roster of 20+ netters when everyone is eligible, to square off with East Jefferson across eight pro set matches while still allowing the visiting Rivals to catch the early ferry back home.
Coupeville’s foe, which is a mashup of players from two schools — Chimacum and Port Townsend — made off with a razor-thin 3-2 victory in the varsity part of the competition, while the Wolves won two of three JV rumbles.
The afternoon’s most tense tussle came at first varsity doubles, where new partners Dahlia Miller and Aleksia Jump teamed up to pull out a victory in a tiebreak in a match which went back-and-forth.
The Wolves were rolling in the early going, East Jefferson rallied late to force the tiebreaker, then the CHS duo excelled in the white-hot spotlight as players from both teams crowded around the fence.
Miller, a superb singles player last season, sprayed several impressive winners into the alleyways, while Jump, who moved to tennis from track and field, sealed the win with an emphatic put away at the net on match point.
Coupeville won three doubles matches on the day, while #1 singles player Tenley Stuurmans methodically picked apart her foe, mixing artful drop shots with overpowering deep hits, keeping her counterpart flustered for much of the match.
If the road weather matches the home weather, the Wolves will get right back at it Tuesday, with a planned trip to Granite Falls for another non-conference tilt.
On her way to deliver another winner.
Monday’s results:
Varsity:
1st Singles — Tenley Stuurmans beat Gracie W. 8-2
2nd Singles — Savannah Coxsey lost to Autumn C. 8-0
1st Doubles — Dahlia Miller/Aleksia Jump beat Lucia F./Halsey E. 9-8(10-8)
2nd Doubles — Kauri Hamilton/Jovanah Villagomez lost to Zinnia B./Ursula S. 8-3
3rd Doubles — Rowan Stoner/Jade Peabody lost to Fern F./Livia L. 7-3
JV:
4th Doubles — Hailey Goldman/Hazel Goldman lost to Freya D./Elan N. 7-3
5th Doubles — Lakshmi Erickson/Kauri Hamilton beat Margot M./Zadie C. 5-1
6th Doubles — Miles Gerber/Savannah Coxsey beat Amelia H./Aubrie T. 8-0
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