SOAP LAKE — The Soap Lake Eagles boys and girls tennis teams both fell 2-3 against Entiat on Tuesday evening. After a long day of matchups going back and forth, the Eagles came just short of earning team victories on both sides. 

“It was good, that was our second time playing them, and I felt like the kids played a lot better,” said Eagles Head Coach Lee Leavell. “I was a little nervous with them coming back from break, but they responded pretty well and despite us losing, I was pretty happy with it.” 

Xavier Ewing, a senior from the Eagles, was the first on the court and the first off the court as he earned a quick victory over his singles opponent, 8-1.  

“My first serve was a slow starter, like it always is, I try not to pound the ball in the first games, I warm up to it,” said Ewing. “My opponent’s serve was kind of tricky (and) a bit hard to read because he’s left-handed, but I feel like I played great.” 

The senior said one of the things he tries to do in every match is keep a positive mindset. 

“Whenever I make mistakes, I just laugh it off,” he said. 

Ewing entered this season after finishing third in state last year and is working every day to get back into the state tourney at the end of this season.  

“I’m working towards winning state and beating a really big server,” said Ewing. “I’m keeping it in my head 24/7 and I’m (constantly) working on more things.” 

Another Soap Lake senior, Francisco Ortega, followed up with the next boys singles match, where he dominated on the court and earned a swift 8-0 victory over his opponent. The two Eagles boys doubles teams followed up and found some adversity on the court.  

Eagles duo Jon Knapp and Jocsan Sanchez-Cruz were the first up after Ortega where they had a close game against their Entiat rivals, but ultimately fell 4-8. David Didok and Jose Mejia from Soap Lake were soon to follow as they fell 2-8 on the court. 

The deciding game for the boys came from Christian Minniker’s third singles match which was a tough battle between the players. The two boys went back and forth, but ultimately Entiat claimed the victory 6-8. 

For the girls, the Soap Lake doubles team of Riley Frazier and Jade Lopez were the first on the court where they played a tight matchup but fell 5-8. Eagles player Janessa Knudsen followed up in a singles match that was the closest score of the day, but fell 7-8. 

The Eagles began to make a comeback in the following singles matches starting with Tanya Zubritskiy, who won her match 8-2. Sanza Gonzalez followed up with similar success, winning her match 8-4 to tie the team score 2-2. 

The final match of the day was with Soap Lake’s Trinidy Dugrenier and Valentina Soltero who battled hard but fell 1-8 by the end of the meet. 

Leavell said this was a good meet for the team coming out of break as it gives them a baseline where they can focus on polishing things up before the postseason begins in a few weeks. 

“Just work on all of our things and really start grinding,” he said. 

As the Eagles get ready to head on the road for their next matchup, Leavell said he wants the players to focus on coming off the bus with good energy and being ready to compete on the court. 

“You start hot and end hot rather than trying to play catch up is kind of what I’ve been talking about with them a lot lately,” he said. 

With seven seniors on the team who have been working alongside Leavell since they were in eighth grade, and one, Jocsan Sanchez-Cruz, has been with the team since he started as a team manager in seventh grade, the coach said he wants to instill in them that having fun is the most important part of these last few weeks. 

“I’ve been telling a lot of them, even Xavier the one who’s ultra competitive, ‘Just enjoy it. Remember that you like doing this and just treat every day as a gift,’” said Leavell. “I can be very competitive, so I’ve been trying to tell myself to just enjoy this last kind of ‘hoorah’ I have with this big group of seniors that I’ve had for a long time.” 

The Eagles head on the road Wednesday to play Pateros at 4 p.m., but will return home Friday to face Okanogan at 3 p.m. 

Soap Lake will also be hosting their senior night to honor the seven seniors, Monday April 27, at 3 p.m. for the final home meet of the season. Leavell said he would like to see as many people as possible come out to support the seniors that day. 

Results:  

Boys 

Xavier Ewing (SPLK) def. Tavian Vasquez (ENTT), 8-2 

Fransisco Ortega (SPLK) def. Christopher Lopez (ENTT)8-0 

Brodie Babst (ENTT) def. Christian Minniker (SPLK), 6-8 

Levi Renslow/Roberto Pacheco-Lopez (ENTT) def. Jon Knapp/Jocsan Sanchez-Cruz (SPLK), 4-8 

Wyatt Chisam/Alan Swenson (ENTT) def. David Didok/Jose Mejia (SPLK) lost (2-8) 

Girls 

Emma Swenson (ENTT) def. Janessa Knudsen (SPLK), 7-9 

Tanya Zubritskiy (SPLK) def. Iriz Olmos (ENTT), 8-2 

Sanza Gonzalez (SPLK) def. Kate Poyner (ENTT), 8-4 

Sofia Tucker/Ashley Ostrow (ENTT) def. Riley Frazier/Jade Lopez (SPLK), 5-8 

Alia Goodrich/Aspyn Simonson ENTT) def. Trinidy Dugrenier/Valentina Soltero (SPLK), 1-8 

    Soap Lake’s Janessa Knudsen swings her racket to hit the ball back over to her opponent during Monday’s meet against Entiat.
  

    Jonathan Knapp from Soap Lake prepares to serve the ball during the boys first doubles match against Entiat.
  

    Eagles player Jade Lopez gets ready to make a serve during the girls first doubles match Monday afternoon.
  

    Soap Lake player, Jocsan Sanchez-Cruz serves the ball in a warmup prior to the first doubles matchup against Entiat.
  

    Riley Frazier from the Eagles swings and hits the ball back at the opposing doubles team during Monday afternoon’s match against Entiat.