Royal girls best Wapato on the court
CALEB PEREZ | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 4 months AGO
Cambpelle Anderson from Royal’s girls first doubles team said despite the win she felt she could have done a little better in Monday’s match and looks to hone her skills for the future.
CALEB PEREZ/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
Lauren Allred put on an impressive performance, winning her singles match 6-0, 6-0.
Miguel Salas prepares to serve in his hard-fought match that went into a tie-breaker round.
Madi Christensen from the girls first doubles team readies herself to return a serve from Wapato.
K.J. Greenfield and his partner Dennis Hernandez made up the Royal boys first doubles team and played a strong game against Wapato.
Ruby Hernandez continues the volley in girls second singles match.
Royal’s second girls doubles team of Madyn Smith and Hayden Sutor won their matches 6-2, 6-3.
ROYAL CITY – The Royal Knights girls tennis team earned a 4-1 victory against Wapato in their Monday afternoon matches.
“We started pretty slow and then we kind of got into it in the first set, but we weren’t playing our best today,” said Cambpelle Anderson, girls first doubles team for the Knights. “Just focusing on the simple things like serving and returning serves.”
All three doubles teams came up with a win as Anderson and her partner Madi Christensen won 6-1, 6-1, Hayden Sutor and Madyn Smith won 6-2, 6-3 and Tania Verduzco and Heaven Parker won theirs 6-0, 6-0. Lauren Allred won 6-0, 6-0 in her singles match.
“That was good to get out there and get the win on the girls side,” said Knights coach Rodrigo Fajardo.
The boys' side took a loss on the day, going 0-5 in their matches. Despite the loss there Fajardo said they are still on the right track towards success.
Fajardo said that if the team can learn anything from Monday’s matches, it's that there is still plenty of time for the players to make the improvements and adjustments necessary to perform their best.
“There’s still a lot of time before districts where we can peak,” said the coach. “So, at any level wherever we’re at we can always improve.”
Royal City’s next opponent will be Naches Valley which boasts a strong girls team that the Knights will have to prepare for, he said.
“It does challenge my girls a bit and you know iron sharpens iron when you play against someone that’s pretty tough,” said Fajardo. “I think it’s good for both parties to improve.”
In preparation, the team is looking to improve their consistency overall and start playing with more confidence. They tend to play safe on hits and serves and he hopes he can get them to the level of confidence where they are comfortable putting more power into their shots, he said.
“I’m just really excited for the season and how it’s going to unfold,” said Fajardo. “These players are really great to coach, and it makes coaching easy when players are motivated to improve.”
The Knights will be playing at home against Naches Valley today at 3 p.m.
Lauren Allred put on an impressive performance, winning her singles match 6-0, 6-0.
Miguel Salas prepares to serve in his hard-fought match that went into a tie-breaker round.
Madi Christensen from the girls first doubles team readies herself to return a serve from Wapato.
K.J. Greenfield and his partner Dennis Hernandez made up the Royal boys first doubles team and played a strong game against Wapato.
Ruby Hernandez continues the volley in girls second singles match.
Royal’s second girls doubles team of Madyn Smith and Hayden Sutor won their matches 6-2, 6-3.ARTICLES BY CALEB PEREZ
Sushik comes full circle ahead of first season at BBCC
MOSES LAKE — The next step in Liana Sushik’s athletic journey has led her to play for the Big Bend Community College Vikings volleyball team this fall after a successful career with the Soap Lake Eagles. Joining the Vikings is something she feels has deepened her love for the sport, she said. “I fell in love with the fact that there’s more than just high school volleyball; there’s another level,” said Sushik. “It’s like a whole new chapter and I’m so excited to see what I have next because there’s a lot that I’ve been through to get here.” Despite her success on the court, Sushik said she didn’t initially start out as an athlete.
Building a community at Desert City Fitness
EPHRATA — The city of Ephrata welcomed its newest athletic club earlier this summer with Desert City Fitness setting up along Basin Street. Since their grand opening June 6, the club has worked to become a strong contributor to the community in Ephrata. “We just opened our doors and whoever comes in, that’s how we do it,” said Bryan Boney, owner of Desert City Fitness. Boney, who owns the club alongside his wife Tracy Fillion, decided to open Desert City Fitness to keep himself active after retiring six years ago. Boney said he has invested all his money from retirement into purchasing the property, remodeling and getting the equipment necessary to open his fitness center.
Grid Kids expands opportunities this season
MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Grid Kids football program is gearing up for the start of its 26th football season this fall. This year, alongside their tackle football program, the Grid Kids have expanded their flag football options. “It’s one of those things that you just don’t really know how well it’s going to go, but right now we’re looking pretty strong,” said Brian Gwinn, the Gird Kids administrator and communications contact. The tackle opportunities remain the same for third through sixth grade with third and fourth graders playing together and fifth and sixth graders separately from the younger players. The format for third and fourth grade will remain at a regular 11-man game, but for fifth and sixth grade there is consideration for moving down to an eight-on-eight format.