Sports - High Schools

POSTED: Saturday, May. 30, 2009

PREP BOYS' TENNIS: Sehome sets itself up nicely on first day

The Sehome boys' tennis team could be bringing home a fair amount of hardware from the Nordstrom Tennis Center in Seattle when the Class 2A State Tournament wraps up on Saturday, May 30.

The Mariners, who took more players to the first day of the tournament, still have all three entries alive in the draw after the first day on Friday, May 29.

Will Topp still is in contention for the state singles title in the semifinals, while teammates William Giller and Micah Koenig are in the doubles semifinals.

The Mariners other doubles team of Matt Goebel and Dustin Koenig also is still playing in the consolation bracket, where it needs just one win to secure a top 6 finish.

"I am so proud of all my guys," Sehome coach Bonna Giller said in a phone interview. "They all played great, great tennis today. I'm so proud."

The "great" tennis came after a few nervous steps in the early matches on Friday.

Both Topp and the William Giller-Micah Koenig duo dropped their opening set of the tournament, but battled back to win the next two to advance to the quarterfinals.

Topp, who entered as the Northwest District's No. 2 seed, lost to Ellensburg's Josiah Jackson 6-1 in the first set, but won the next two 6-4, 6-2 to advance.

"He was a little tentative early, and I could tell he wasn't having much fun out there," Bonna Giller said. "During the set break, I just told him to relax and play the match, rather than the player. He did that, and he settled down quite a bit in the next two sets."

William Giller and Micah Koenig had a little bit of the same problem, as they fell 7-5 in the first set to Othello's T.D. Peterson and Sam Harris, but like Giller they fought back to advance, winning the next two sets 6-1, 6-4.

"I think they were eager to get out of the blocks after eight months off, and when they finally did get out, they fumbled just a little bit," Bonna Giller said. "They started slow, but I thought William had an amazing match. I'm not sure I've seen him play three strong sets in a row like that. Micah picked it up in the second set, and they really started to play well."

They carried that into the second match, where they beat Klahowya's Jeff Jaeckel and Kurtis Pitcher 6-3, 6-1 to advance to the semifinals, where' they'll play Sequim's Reed Gunstone and Mallory Maloney on Saturday.

Topp also looked comfortable in the second match, beating Interlake's Tai Pham 6-2, 6-1 to advance to a Saturday's semifinal against Clarkston's Dustin McConnell.

The only Sehome players not to struggle in the first round were Dustin Koenig and Goebel, who breezed to a 6-2, 6-0 victory over R.A Long's Johnny Nguyen and Taylor Woodruff.

But then they ran into a buzz saw in the form of Interlake's Jason Sheih and Nikita Nosov in the quarterfinals.

"That Interlake team had a player that was just unbelievable," Bonna Giller said. "Will Topp looked at me and said, 'I'm glad he's not playing singles.' Dustin and Matt lost 6-0 in the first set before they knew what hit what hit them. They really struggled with his pace. They battled in the second set a bit better, but still lost 6-4."

That dropped them into the consolation bracket, where they faced a grueling three-setter against Peterson and Harris. The Sehome duo ended up coming out on top 6-7, 7-6, 6-1, keeping the hopes to place alive and improving Sehome's chances at a team title.

"We're cautiously optimistic about that," Bonna Giller said. "We got done (Friday) what we needed to do to keep us in the hunt."

Friday's results

Nordstrom Tennis Center, Seattle

Singles

First round

Tai Pham (Interlake) def. Hubie Paterson (Chehalis W.F. West) 6-0, 6-4

Will Topp (Sehome) def. Josiah Jackson (Ellensburg) 1-6, 6-4, 6-2

Yasser Khon (Chehalis W.F. West) def. Ettore Scudo (Sequim) 6-0, 6-1

Dustin McConnell (Clarkston) def. Tyler Van Heusden (Ephrata) 6-0, 6-0

Riley Newman (South Whidbey) def. Jeff Koss (Mark Morris) 6-0, 6-0

Paxton Magaway (Steilacoom) def. Rogi Fajard (Grandview) 6-2, 6-2

Aaron Porter (Ellensburg) def. Vinh Nguyen (Washington) 6-1, 6-2

Kashif Khon (Chehalis W.F. West) def. Carl Vollmer (Pullman) 6-1, 6-4

Consolation first round

Josiah Jackson (Ellensburg) def. Hubie Paterson (Chehalis W.F. West) 6-1, 6-3

Ettore Scudo (Sequim) def. Tyler Van Heusden (Ephrata) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2

Rogi Fajard (Grandview) def. Jeff Koss (Mark Morris) 6-1, 6-2

Carl Vollmer (Pullman) def. Vinh Nguyen (Washington) 6-2, 6-0

Quarterfinals

Will Topp (Sehome) def. Tai Pham (Interlake) 6-2, 6-1

Dustin McConnell (Clarkston) def. Yasser Khon (Chehalis W.F. West) 6-4, 6-2

Riley Newman (South Whidbey) def. Paxton Magaway (Steilacoom) 6-1, 6-1

Kashif Khon (Chehalis W.F. West) def. Aaron Porter (Ellensburg) 6-1, 6-3

Consolation second round

Josiah Jackson (Ellensburg) def. Paxton Magaway (Steilacoom) 6-1, 6-2

Aaron Porter (Ellensburg) def. Ettore Scudo (Sequim) 6-0, 6-0

Rogi Fajard (Grandview) def. Tai Pham (Interlake) 6-0, 6-3

Yasser Khon (Chehalis W.F. West) def. Carl Vollmer (Pullman) 5-7, 6-2, 6-2

Doubles

First round

Jeff Jaeckel-Kurtis Pitcher (Klahowya) def. Bennett Rowe-Patrick Duffy (Aberdeen) 6-4, 6-2

William Giller-Micah Koenig (Sehome) def. T.D. Peterson-Sam Harris (Othello) 5-7, 6-1, 6-4

Reed Gunstone-Mallory Maloney (Sequim) def. Thomas Berschauser-Martin Michalik (Black Hills) 6-1, 6-2

Garret Mullen-Chris Chappel (West Valley) def. Rogelio Ruuiz-Greg Strom (Wapato) 6-2, 6-4

Dustin Koenig-Matt Goebel (Sehome) def. Johnny Nguyen-Taylor Woodruff (R.A. Long) 6-2, 6-0

Jason Sheih-Nikita Nosov (Interlake) def. Mike Kmorowski-Bryan Elliott (Ellensburg) 6-3, 6-1

Kevin Bertelsen-Devin Teske (Selah) def. A.J. Barker-Colton Alexander (North Mason) 6-0, 7-5

Drew Adams-Derek Young (Clarkston) def. Ryan Cathcart-Carl Johnson (R.A. Long) 6-3, 6-3

Consolation first round

T.D. Peterson-Sam Harris (Othello) def. Bennett Rowe-Patrick Duffy (Aberdeen) 6-2, 6-1

Rogelio Ruuiz-Greg Strom (Wapato) def. Thomas Berschauser-Martin Michalik (Black Hills) 6-7, 6-3, 6-4

Mike Kmorowski-Bryan Elliott (Ellensburg) def. Johnny Nguyen-Taylor Woodruff (R.A. Long) 5-7, 6-1, 6-2

A.J. Barker-Colton Alexander (North Mason) def. Ryan Cathcart-Carl Johnson (R.A. Long) 6-7, 7-5, 6-2

Quarterfinals

William Giller-Micah Koenig (Sehome) def. Jeff Jaeckel-Kurtis Pitcher (Klahowya) 6-3, 6-1

Reed Gunstone-Mallory Maloney (Sequim) def. Mullen-Chris Chappel (West Valley) 6-3, 6-4

Jason Sheih-Nikita Nosov (Interlake) def. Dustin Koenig-Matt Goebel (Sehome) 6-0, 6-4

Kevin Bertelsen-Devin Teske (Selah) def. Drew Adams-Derek Young (Clarkston) 6-4, 6-3

Consolation second round

Dustin Koenig-Matt Goebel (Sehome) def. T.D. Peterson-Sam Harris (Othello) 6-7, 7-6, 6-1

Drew Adams-Derek Young (Clarkston) def. Rogelio Ruuiz-Greg Strom (Wapato) 6-2, 6-1

Mike Kmorowski-Bryan Elliott (Ellensburg) def. Jeff Jaeckel-Kurtis Pitcher (Klahowya) 2-6, 6-4, 6-3

Garret Mullen-Chris Chappel (West Valley) def. A.J. Barker-Colton Alexander (North Mason) 5-7, 6-4, 6-4

Saturday's matches

Nordstrom Tennis Center, Seattle

Singles

Consolation third round

Josiah Jackson (Ellensburg vs. Aaron Porter (Ellensburg)

Rogi Fajard (Grandview) vs. Yasser Khon (Chehalis W.F. West)

Semifinals

Will Topp (Sehome) vs. Dustin McConnell (Clarkston)

Riley Newman (South Whidbey) vs. Kashif Khon (Chehalis W.F. West)

Fourth place match

Consolation third round winners

Third place match

Semifinals losers

Championship match

Semifinal winners

Doubles

Consolation third round

Dustin Koenig-Matt Goebel (Sehome) vs. Drew Adams-Derek Young (Clarkston)

Mike Kmorowski-Bryan Elliott (Ellensburg) vs. Garret Mullen-Chris Chappel (West Valley)

Semifinals

William Giller-Micah Koenig (Sehome) vs. Reed Gunstone-Mallory Maloney (Sequim)

Jason Sheih-Nikita Nosov (Interlake) vs. Kevin Bertelsen-Devin Teske (Selah)

Fourth place match

Consolation third round winners

Third place match

Semifinals losers

Championship match

Semifinal winners