Coupeville Sports

Ken Stange imparts wisdom to Amanda d’Almeida. (Dan d’Almeida photos)

Friendly rivals Hayley Newman (left) and d’Almeida.

Seniors Emily Gallahar (left) and Holly Craggs closed their careers as friends and supportive teammates.

“I’m trapped in a chain-link fence of emotion!!”

Tennis is not even her main sport.

A soccer player who dabbled in the net arts, Amanda d’Almeida put together one of the best runs any Coupeville High School racket queen ever compiled over the last four years, putting a definitive stamp on her extraordinary career Saturday.

A three-time district champ in doubles, d’Almeida went out as a singles player, winning three of five matches over two days of play and coming within a handful of points of advancing to tri-districts.

And while she ultimately couldn’t get past the dynasty of Whidbey tennis — taking her only losses to Hayley and Carlie Newman of South Whidbey — d’Almeida left a lasting impression on her coach, even if, by the end, he was flying high on 40 hours with no sleep thanks to various school duties.

“It was yet another good year for Amanda,” said Wolf coach Ken Stange. “There was no fourth district title, but she is playing excellent tennis. I would take her as a doubles partner!”

While the rest of Coupeville’s netters took the two matches and pack your bags route at an extremely deep district tourney led by South Whidbey and Blaine, d’Almedia decided to hang around for a bit.

Two wins in three matches Thursday earned her a call-back on Saturday, when the action shifted from Langley to Skagit Valley College. Her only loss in the first day came to an undefeated Hayley Newman, and was one of the more intense battles the Falcon net ace has seen this season.

“That semifinal match was outstanding,” Stange said. “Amanda played some of her best tennis against Hayley. Hayley is good. I bet she qualifies for state in a difficult tri-district singles tourney.”

Once she got to Mount Vernon Saturday, d’Almeida found herself locked in an epic struggle of wills against Saskia Dolk of Blaine, whom she had lost to earlier in the season. With Dolk a game away from losing, the Borderite abruptly switched gears, throwing lob after lob at her foe, forcing d’Almeida into an epic waiting game.

“This was perhaps Amanda’s best win of the season,” Stange said. “She also found a way to win when her opponent changed strategies. She played each shot like it was a move in a game of chess.”

Perhaps a bit tired after the two-hour match, she then had to quickly rebound against Carlie Newman, whose only losses this season have been to her big sis. After losing the first set to the well-rested Falcon, d’Almeida stormed back to force a second-set tiebreak, briefly raising hopes of a third set.

It wasn’t to be, however, and the proud warrior and her sleep-deprived coach departed the court together for the final time as pupil and guru.

Complete 1A District 1 tournament results:

Singles:

Amanda d’Almeida beat Berry (Blaine) 6-4, 6-1
d’Almeida lost to Hayley Newman (South Whidbey) 6-3, 6-3
d’Almeida beat Abbi Steele (Nooksack Valley) 6-1, 6-0
d’Almedia beat Saskia Dolk (Blaine) 6-1, 7-6(7-4)
d’Almeida lost to Carlie Newman (South Whidbey) 6-1, 7-6(7-3)

Iris Ryckaert lost to C. Newman (South Whidbey) 6-1, 6-0
Ryckaert lost to Steele (Nooksack Valley) 4-6, 6-2, 6-1

Doubles:

Holly Craggs/Emily Gallahar lost to Allison/Roth-Lerner (Blaine) 6-0, 6-3
Craggs/Gallahar lost to Anderson/Timmins (Friday Harbor) 6-1, 4-6, 6-2

Samantha Martin/Sydney Autio lost to Grayston/Hederson (Blaine) 6-0, 6-0
Martin/Autio lost to Marinkovich/Bormann (Friday Harbor) 6-1, 6-0

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   Samantha Martin will team with fellow freshman Sydney Autio at Thursday’s district tennis tournament. (John Fisken photo)

Two girls in their final go-around and two girls in their first go-round will form Coupeville High School’s doubles teams for the district tournament.

Seniors Holly Craggs and Emily Gallahar won a team-wide tournament to net the #1 spot, while freshmen Sydney Autio and Samantha Martin clawed their way past several strong teams to grab the #2 spot.

The duos will join singles players Amanda d’Almeida and Iris Ryckaert and travel to Langley Thursday.

All six Wolves will have their work cut out for them with a much-deeper tourney field than in previous years.

South Whidbey, which had been a dominant force in the 2A tennis world, dropped down to 1A this season, and the Falcons and fellow newcomer Blaine are the overwhelming favorites, with Coupeville, Friday Harbor and a handful of others hoping for an upset or two.

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   Three-time district doubles champ Amanda d’Almeida will close her career by playing singles in this year’s tourney. (John Fisken photo)

Everyone gets a shot.

That’s how Coupeville High School girls’ tennis coach Ken Stange is doling out his six slots to the district tournament this season. Each girl gets to pick up a racket, enter Thunderdome and may the best netter exit.

The first to make it out alive was senior Amanda d’Almeida, who defended her #1 singles position successfully, winning the team’s tournament.

The runner-up was a bit of a surprise, however, as Iris Ryckaert, who played doubles most of the season, toppled Allie Hanigan for the second singles slot.

They will be joined by two as yet to be determined doubles duos at the district tournament, which takes place Thursday, May 9 in Langley. That tourney includes heavy hitters South Whidbey and Blaine and the always-scrappy Friday Harbor.

Any girl who didn’t claim one of the top two singles slots was allowed to partner up at will for the team’s doubles tournament. That tourney wraps up Monday.

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     Holly Craggs went out like a champ in her final regular season match, teaming with Amanda d’Almeida for a huge doubles win. (John Fisken photo)

This is how you close out the regular season, with complete and utter domination.

Wrapping an impressive 9-4 season Tuesday, the Coupeville High School girls’ tennis team threw down an epic beating on visiting Lakewood. Despite shuffling their roster and mixing up some doubles teams, the Wolves swept all eight matches (five varsity, three JV) played.

It was the seventh time this season the 1A Wolves have beaten a 2A school.

“It couldn’t have worked out better. The kids delivered impressive wins,” said Wolf coach Ken Stange. “On top of that, every player was all smiles walking off the court … a fine way to end the regular season.”

Now comes the postseason, and with it, an all-out Death Match 2013 over the next two days, as every player on the Wolf roster gets a chance to compete for the team’s two singles and two doubles spots at districts.

First up is the Singles Shakeout Wednesday, then Thursday players will choose their own partners and go to battle in the Doubles Shakeout. The six girls who earn the chance to represent Coupeville travel to the district tourney in Langley Thursday, May 9.

Complete results:

Varsity:

1st Singles — Iris Ryckaert beat Hannah Krustinger 6-2, 6-2

2nd Singles — Emily Gallahar beat Maddy DeYoung 6-4, 6-3

1st Doubles — Amanda d’Almeida/Holly Craggs beat McKayla Schwiger/Violet Jensen 6-3, 6-2

2nd Doubles — Allie Hanigan/Julia Myers beat Bea Kaier/Jackie Stover 6-2, 6-0

3rd Doubles — Jacki Ginnings/Micky LeVine beat Jenny Tsengelmaa/Lexi Zbiegen 6-0, 6-1

JV:

4th Doubles — Sydney Autio/Samantha Martin beat Erin Espeland/Camille Madero 8-5

5th Doubles — Ana Luvera/Ivy Luvera beat Reekah Schiess/Micaela Mendiondo 8-5

6th Doubles — McKenzie Bailey/Mary Massengale beat Kathryn Winder/Apinya Jaweesub 8-0

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Having barely made the ferry, Julia Myers, Allie Hanigan, Micky LeVine, Amanda d’Almeida and Iris Ryckaert celebrate. P.S. — the donuts aren’t real.

The Cowboys and the Redskins united and hunted down the Wolves.

Chimacum (the Cowboys) and Port Townsend (the Redskins) combine for their girls’ tennis program, and their united forces were just a bit too much for Coupeville High School Friday.

Sweeping the doubles contests, they edged the Wolves 4-2, dropping Coupeville to a still-impressive 8-4 on the season with one match to play. The final postseason tuneup comes Tuesday, when Lakewood visits Whidbey for its third beatin’ of the season.

Given more time (they had to ankle it to catch the last ferry out of town and the last two JV matches were called before they were done), the Wolves might have forced a tie in the varsity match.

Fourth doubles duo Mary Massengale and Sydney Autio had fought back to tie their match at a set apiece, but the time crunch prevented them from playing a full third set. Instead, they played a quicker 10-point tiebreak and couldn’t keep their momentum going.

Also playing strongly was third doubles duo Julia Myers and Wynter Thorne. This was their first pairing and Thorne’s varsity debut.

“Julia and Wynter played very well together,” said Wolf coach Ken Stange. “They are both tall and fast, and they covered the entire court. They could prove to be a solid combo next year.”

Complete results:

Varsity:

1st Singles — Amanda d’Almeida beat Frances Sheldon 6-1, 6-0

2nd Singles — Allie Hanigan beat Justina Sutherand 6-1, 6-1

1st Doubles — Holly Craggs/Iris Ryckaert lost to Rachel Ramsey/Rebecca Ramsey 6-2, 6-0

2nd Doubles — Ivy Luvera/Ana Luvera lost to Sarah Allen/Rachel Maki 6-1, 6-1

3rd Doubles — Julia Myers/Wynter Thorne lost to Olivia Garten/Irina Lyons 6-4, 7-5

4th Doubles — Mary Massengale/Sydney Autio lost to MJ Richardson/Abbi Robocker 6-1, 4-6, 10-5

JV:

5th Doubles — Jacki Ginnings/Micky LeVine lost to Holly Taylor/Alyssa Wolfe 6-4

6th Doubles — McKenzie Bailey/Emily Gallahar beat Taylor Van Ness/Ezalyne Lamour 6-4

7th Doubles — Samantha Martin/McKenzie Bailey tied Holly Taylor/Anum Mushtaq 4-4

8th Doubles — Haleigh Deasy/Joye Jackson lost to Sophie Thurston/Miranda Appling 5-1

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