Othello tennis bests Quincy
CALEB PEREZ | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 2 months AGO
Othello’s Olivia Harris returns the ball during a rally in her match against Caia Williams of Quincy Saturday.
CHERYL SCHWEIZER/COLUMBIABASINHERALD
Caia Williams, Quincy, keeps the ball in play against Othello’s Olivia Harris.
Jacob Bishop, Quincy, volleys the return during his match in Othello.
Othello’s Miguel Vilchis reaches for the ball during his match.
OTHELLO — The Othello Huskies tennis squad was able to win overall against the Quincy Jacks on Saturday morning, with the girls going 3-2 and the boys 4-1.
“My girls right now, they’re all really strong, so they all play well,” said Huskies girls’ coach Priscilla Tovar. “Tennis is such a head game, so (they’re) keeping a positive attitude and just going out there and finishing.”
The girls were able to win all three of their doubles matches, going 6-1, 6-3 in the first one and 6-0, 6-2 in the second. Their third doubles match was getting tighter, with the results being 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. The Huskies girls team is also currently undefeated for the season.
“Our doubles movement is great,” said Priscilla Tovar. “They had great net play and (were) sticking to the basics, making sure they’re eliminating errors.”
Priscilla Tovar said the first doubles team, Launa Mallotte and Rylan Jones, did exceptionally well in Saturday’s match and have been impressive since they joined the team.
“I’m just really proud of them; they went from third doubles to first doubles and they’ve just been killing it,” she said. “This season, they’ve been really strong.”
The boys' side experienced similar success on the day, losing only their first singles match and going undefeated in doubles. Their second singles were close, with the final score being 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, with the first doubles being 6-0, 6-2, the second was 7-5, 6-4 and the third being 6-0, 6-0.
Huskies boys coach Caleb Tovar said their success came from the boys’ ability to read the court and place themselves accordingly when the time came in the match.
“They did what was asked, what we’ve been practicing, and it showed in the match,” said Caleb Tovar.
Caleb Tovar said that last year, a lot of their players graduated and even more are going to graduate this year, so they’re spending time working on the other guys and building to the future.
“Traditionally, we don’t really condition a whole lot in tennis and we’ve kind of been implementing at least a day each week,” said Caleb Tovar. “We’re going to amp that up and keep on that track just because I think it does them good.”
The Huskies girls' side will work on similar improvements, continuing to hone their skills on their understanding of the game and working on doubles movement. The big thing for the girls will be to make sure that they are working on their mental game, said Priscilla Tovar.
“I have a really strong girls team, so I’m just excited to watch them grow,” said Priscilla Tovar.
Othello Boys
Miguel Vilchis
Jose Torres
Riley Rodriguez
James Risenmay
Jace Ritchie
Ernesto Duran
Camilo Mendez
Armani Zuniga
Othello Girls
Olivia Harris
Elizabeth Maldonado
Launa Mallotte
Rylan Jones
Faith Risenmay
Shaylee Freeman
Grace Roylance
Hazel Roylance
Quincy Boys
Jacob Bishop
Luis Gutierrez
Saidt Alvarez
Manuel Torres
Ian Shin
Alejandro Barajas
Quinten Martinez
Michael Pascual
Quincy Girls
Caia Williams
Vanessa Quintero
Caroline Tafolla
Melanie Alcaraz
Kimberly Solano
Maria Ortiz
Diana Aguilar
Kara Townsend
Caia Williams, Quincy, keeps the ball in play against Othello’s Olivia Harris.
Jacob Bishop, Quincy, volleys the return during his match in Othello.
Othello’s Miguel Vilchis reaches for the ball during his match.ARTICLES BY CALEB PEREZ
Erickson looks back on a busy and successful four-sport high school career
WARDEN — A four-sport athlete is not someone you often come across due to the time and dedication it takes for success in one sport, but for Amaya Erickson, tackling that challenge was something she was up for in her senior season. “My family’s always been really big into sports,” said Erickson. “Both my parents have played and my siblings both play, so I guess they’re all a really great inspiration for me.”
Tigers start summer 3-1 after split with Sunnyside Christian
EPHRATA — The Ephrata Tiger Baseball Club (3-1) finished their second matchup of the season as they split a doubleheader with Sunnyside Christian Tuesday evening. “I was pleased with a lot of aspects of the doubleheader,” said Tigers Head Coach David Tempel. “The summertime is all about development and getting some experience. The good part about (Tuesday) is we were in some different situations that we haven’t seen much, so we were able to learn from those and use those to our advantage.” Sunnyside was the first on the board during game one as they put up two runs in the top of the second inning. The Tigers responded at the bottom of the third as they put up five runs to claim the lead.
Fletcher named new Eagles volleyball head coach
SOAP LAKE — The Soap Lake Eagles volleyball team will be under new leadership this fall as Erin Fletcher has been selected as the new head coach. She is following the successful tenure of the previous head coach, Nikki Noble, who helped guide the team to multiple state appearances over the years. “I’m so excited,” said Fletcher. “I’ve had the opportunity to watch these girls play the last couple years as a (referee). I’m really excited to be able to step in after Coach Noble and continue on that winning and competitive spirit that they’ve had for so long and kind of take it now to the next level.” Her love for athletics came from growing up in an athletic family of basketball players, but in second grade, she became the first in her family to start playing volleyball. From there, a passion for volleyball began to grow.