Tenley Stuurmans (far left) is already a state meet vet before attending a single day of high school. (Photo courtesy Scott Stuurmans)
They’ll remember her name.
Coupeville 8th grader Tenley Stuurmans, the youngest player in the bracket, put up a stirring fight Friday in Yakima, coming dangerously close to advancing to day two of the 2B/1B girls’ tennis state championships.
The Wolf netter opened against a buzzsaw in Gursimr Sahota of Jenkins (Chewelah), falling 6-1, 6-0, but the score was deceptive.
Sahota bashed her way through her second-round opponent in similar fashion, but now runs into the defending state champ, big sis Avi, who didn’t drop a game Friday en route to advancing to the finale.
It’s the second-straight season the 2B/1B singles title match has been an all-Sahota affair, as Avi beat another sister, Simi, last year.
In her second match, Stuurmans squared off with Vanessa Mujica of Highland, claiming the first set 6-1.
Mujica rallied to take the last two sets 7-6 (7-3 tiebreaker) and 7-5 and will play on Saturday in a bid to bring home a 3rd or 4th place trophy.
While Stuurmans won’t bring any hardware home this year, her stellar run — while still a middle school student and in just her first year of even playing tennis — bodes extremely well for the future.
Coupeville Sports 