Goats send 9 players to the State Tournament in Yakima this weekend
information provided by CHS Tennis Coach Rothlisberger; photo above the Sanderson Brothers celebrate
The Chelan Tennis squad competed in the District 5 1A tennis tournament over a 4 day span: Saturday, May 9 in Quincy (results previously reported), Wednesday, May 13 in Connell (mostly rained/winded out), Thursday, May 14 in Connell and Saturday, May 16 in Chelan. The tournament featured eleven 1A schools from the center third of the state, spanning from the Canadian border to the Oregon border. This tournament was the qualifier for the WIAA 1A State Tournament.
The Goats will have 9 players traveling to the WIAA 1A State Tournament: Alison Horner, Brooklyn Foyle, Lizzy Hutchinson, Maddie Cowan, Wade Sanderson, Owen Sanderson, Angel Mendez, Nicolas Diaz-Manda and Loen Moody.
In girls doubles, juniors Brooklyn Foyle and Alison Horner entered Wednesday in the quarterfinals, and won that match 6-4, 6-1 over Morrill/Trainer of Connell. In the semifinal match on Saturday, Brooklyn and Alison played well but came up short against eventual champions Ray/Schade of Cashmere 4-6, 3-6. In the consolation bracket, Foyle and Horner eliminated Piercy/Webb of Royal 6-1, 6-4. In the last match on Saturday, we had some unfortunate Chelan “friendly fire” as Alison and Brooklyn defeated teammates Lizzy Hutchinson and Maddie Cowan 6-1, 6-4. That win qualified Foyle and Horner for the state tournament as #3 seeds.
Junior Maddie Cowan and sophomore Lizzy Hutchinson lost their quarterfinal to the aforementioned champions Ray/Schade of Cashmere, but bounced back in the consolation round to defeat Withers/Casper of Connell 6-1, 6-1. On Saturday, Maddie and Lizzy also took out Morrill/Trainer of Connell in comeback fashion 6-7, 6-4, 6-2. To keep their quest going, Lizzy and Maddie followed up that thriller with another gutsy three set victory over Smith/Sutor of Royal 6-3, 5-7, 7-5. That pit two Chelan girls doubles teams together in a winner-takes-3rd, loser-is-alternate match, which Foyle and Horner won. So, Hutchinson and Cowan qualify as state alternates in girls doubles.
Lastly, in girls doubles, juniors Reese Bordner and Josie Bekel suffered a narrow loss to Lassila/Hernandez of Omak on Wednesday to end their season. They’ll be back for a strong senior season 2027!
In girls singles, senior Estee Flynn defeated Johanna Lopez of Wahluke 6-0, 6-0 in her first match on Wednesday, but narrowly lost her Thursday quarterfinal 6-7, 4-6 to Za Monick of Naches. That required Estee to win one last match on Thursday in the consolation bracket, defeating Ayanna Harri of College Place 6-4, 6-1. In her opening match on Saturday vs Savannah Schwendiman of Connell, Estee stayed alive with a 7-6, 6-0 victory. Unfortunately Estee had her season come to an end at the hands of Lydia Crowther of Zillah via a tiebreaking 3rd set loss. Estee has been one of the top girls singles players in the CTL the past two seasons, and those are big shoes to fill!
In boys doubles, brothers Wade and Tristan Sanderson somewhat “coasted” to a district title! They won their quarterfinal over Specht/Davidson of Connell 6-4, 6-0. In the semifinal, Wade and Owen dismantled Cashmere’s Nelson/Christensen 6-1, 6-4. In the district championship match, the Sandersons claimed their title over Borba/Schwindeman of Connell 6-1, 6-4. Wade and Tristan qualify for the state tournament as the #1 seeds from District 5! Pic attached.
Chelan boys doubles duo of sophomore Loen Moody and senior Nicolas Diaz-Manda fell short in their Wednesday quarterfinal vs SCAC #1 seed Borba/Schwendiman 0-6, 4-6, but followed that up with a critical 6-3, 6-1 win over College Place’s Howton/Sanchez 6-3, 6-1. On Saturday, Nicolas and Loen began with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Narcisso/Garcia of Royal. In their 2nd match on Saturday, the duo came up short against Nelson/Christensen of Cashmere 6-3, 6-0. Finally, they finished Saturday with a comeback victory over Greenfield/Hernandez of Royal 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, clinching Moody and Diaz-Manda the state alternate spot for boys doubles.
The doubles team of senior Sean Rynd and junior Cooper Neff began Wednesday with a critical 6-0, 6-2 win over Saldana/Aguilar of Omak, but had their season come to an end with a 6-7, 1-6 loss to Narcisso/Garcia of College Place in their subsequent Thursday match. Sean has been a huge part of Chelan’s success the past two years, winning a high percentage of his matches. Cooper will return in 2027 as an integral part of the boys roster.
Junior singles player Elijah Moody won his blustery Wednesday quarterfinal in comeback fashion 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, and gave #1 seed Albin Eskew a bit of a scare in the Thursday quarterfinal, yet fell short 2-6, 6-7. Moody won his 2nd match on Thursday 6-2, 6-4 over Carter Elliot of College Place. Unfortunately Elijah never found his rhythm on Saturday vs Wapato’s Venice Taiza, losing 4-6, 1-6. Elijah is still one of the top boys players in the CTL, and will return with redemption on his mind in 2027.
Junior singles player Angel Mendez won his Wednesday 2nd round match 6-2, 6-0 vs Riley Rodriguez of Zillah in rough windy conditions, and his Thursday quarterfinal 6-3, 6-1 over Venice Taiza of Wapato. In Saturday’s semifinal against #1 seed Albin Eskew of Cashmere, Angel played some of the best tennis of his career, but came up a little short against the eventual champion 4-6, 5-7. That required Angel to win his consolation match in order to clinch a state berth, which he did over Jesse Knowles of College Place 6-1, 6-2. In the seeding match for #3/#4, Angel lost a close one to Ashvir Kataria of Omak 6-7, 4-6.
The state tournament will take place at the Yakima Tennis Club on Friday and Saturday this upcoming week, May 22nd and 23rd.
Go Goats!
