Coupeville Sports

   Friendly rivals Valen Trujillo (left) and Wynter Thorne celebrate post-tourney. (Ken Stange photos)

  Wolf doubles players (l to r) McKenzie Bailey, Jazmine Franklin, Micky LeVine and Sydney Autio.

They drove a long way, but they returned as champs.

The Coupeville High School girls’ tennis squad sent nine players to Poulsbo Saturday for the North Kitsap Invite and six came back with a top-two finish.

“It would be an understatement to say it was a good day,” said Wolf coach Ken Stange. “It was a good day!”

The tourney drew players from North Kitsap, Kingston, Gig Harbor, Sequim and Coupeville’s Olympic league rival, Klahowya, with play divided into four groups — Singles 1, Singles 2, Doubles 1, and Doubles 2.

Coupeville swept the field in both the #2 divisions, with Valen Trujillo edging teammate Wynter Thorne for the singles crown.

The fairly new doubles duo of Jazmine Franklin and McKenzie Bailey took the crown in their division, nipping Wolves Sydney Autio and Micky LeVine.

Complete results:

Singles 1:

Jacki Ginnings lost to Turley (NK) 6-0, 6-0
Ginnings beat Kumei (King) 6-4, 7-5
Ginnings beat Gauthum (Seq) 6-4, 6-2

Coupeville’s top player finished fourth in a field of eight, with her only loss to the eventual tournament champion.

Along the way she employed a shot that makes her coach a wee bit jealous.

“Jacki made use of an effective drop shot,” Stange said. “I’ll have to get her to teach it to me, because I’ve spent the better part of 40 years trying to figure it out.”

Singles 2:

Valen Trujillo beat Rogers (GH) 6-0, 6-1
Wynter Thorne beat LaCour (Seq) 6-2, 3-6, 10-8
Trujillo beat Ramirez (King) 6-1, 6-0
Thorne beat Hibbs (NK) 6-3, 6-2
Trujillo beat Thorne 6-1, 6-2

Stange was impressed with Trujillo’s killer instinct (“Valen has found a way to easily punch out players with less experience, that’s a sign of her growth”) and Thorne’s scrappiness (“Over the last few years, Wynter has played in quite a few tiebreakers and she was able to squeak by”).

Doubles 1:

Sage Renninger/Payton Aparicio lost to Rosebrook/Hamal (King) 6-0, 6-3
Renninger/Aparicio lost to Sokkapa/Wake (Seq) 7-6(10-8), 6-1
Renninger/Aparicio trailed 6-5 (called on account of ferry)

“The doubles competition was fierce. I would have had a difficult time with many of the players on the court,” Stange said. “Sage and Payton are well ahead of the curve, as far as ninth graders go.

“I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: their time will come.”

Doubles 2:

McKenzie Bailey/Jazmine Franklin beat Castillo/Fairchild (NK) 6-4, 6-2
Sydney Autio/Micky LeVine had a bye
Bailey/Franklin beat Gauthum/Williams (Seq) 6-1, 6-0
Autio/LeVine beat Murray/Halferty (King) 6-4, 6-2
Bailey/Franklin beat Autio/LeVine 8-6

Both of these Wolf duos are fairly recent match-ups, and the final gave them their first chance to face off with each other.

“Jazmine is starting to settle in as a varsity doubles player and McKenzie is starting to take a dominant role on the court, which wreaks havoc on the opposition,” Stange said. “Micky provided steadiness and Sydney provided loads of power.

“I don’t think the other team knew what to do with such a contrasting set of styles coming from one side of the court,” he added. “It was a treat to see two of our teams in the final.”

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