Chiefs tennis splits with Panthers

MOSES LAKE - Moses Lake girls tennis made history at home Tuesday with their initial win over Wenatchee.

The Chiefs dominated singles play winning all four games, but dropped all doubles competition to the Panthers to finish 4-3 on the day.

"Wenatchee is such a premier program with a history of excellence ... their coaches do a great job of running their program," coach Jon Wrigley said. "But we really rattled the cages of a couple of Wenatchee girls in singles play.  Courtney (Kunjara)and Ece (Yilmaz) both had close matches that faded as they mentally broke down their opponents. Carina (LeFave) played at a higher level than previous matches. She really wanted to come out and play well. I could see this coming from her."

Kunjara got the Chiefs going early with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Annie Stefanides in the first singles match of the afternoon.

LeFave followed suit at second singles with a two set 6-0, 6-2 defeat of Analise Nelson. Marki Koreis made it three wins in a row as she turned back Olivia Morgan 6-0, 6-2 at third singles, and Yilmaz made it a clean sweep for Moses Lake with a three set 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 victory over Kate Thies at fourth singles.

Things took a turn for the worst for the Chiefs in doubles competition as Moses Lake lost all three matches, but still pulled out the win. First doubles Dorothy Catey and Sierra Gallaway were defeated by Carlie Heuple and Caroline Taylor 2-6, 3-6, second doubles Liz Busherd and Ciara Schwab dropped their match 2-6, 1-6 to Kayla Kepple and Samantha NG, and third doubles Quennie Bacat and Julia Medel were turned back by Tara Heuple and Ariana Keyser in two sets, 4-6, 2-6.

The win over Wenatchee puts Moses Lake at 2-1 in Big 9 league play and 2-3 overall.

Boys

The boys had a rough outing against the Panthers as the Chiefs failed to win a set in any of their games and dropped the match 7-0. The loss to Wenatchee has Moses Lake at 1-2 in league play and 2-3 overall.

"To handle us in that fashion is a testament to how talented that team is," Wrigley said. "While there are matches we could have played better as a whole, we played at our level.  I am hoping we learned from this match and grow.  The boys team has improved this year and learned from wins and losses. This was a good opportunity for some of our new players to see what the level of state competition is."

Moses Lake is back on the courts tomorrow when the Chiefs host Eisenhower at 3 p.m.

"Our girls beat them 5-2 last year at their place and I am sure they want revenge. They have the top player in the league at the top of the ladder and some veteran players following her so it's going to be another one that could come down to the last match," Wrigley said.  "For the boys team, I am focusing the players on playing their best the whole match."