Three consecutive days of battling the rainy weather and awesome opponents finally harvested Class 3A West Central District seeding spots into state being held in Vancouver, Washington.

On Thursday, May 20, the continuing rain showers forced the shuttling of players from outdoor courts into the four-court indoor facilities at the Sprinker Recreation Center.

Attempting to play catchup on Friday, the 3A players tried to gain some outdoor play by sharing court space with the Class 4A players as well as sharing indoor space. Showers returned, forcing a large number of boys matches to be sent to satellite indoor courts in Olympia.

By Saturday morning, May 22, tournament Director and Evergreen High School coach Doris Burdin had a more manageable situation with longer periods of outdoor play aiding the tournament progress.

Mitchell Thorp of John F. Kennedy led Highline area qualifiers with a second place in boys singles. Thorp's outstanding run started with a 6-0, 6-0, bageling of Justin Shuck from Lakes. Thorp next threw his power into a 6-0, 6-3, domination of Franklin Pierce's Drew Dawson to gain the winners bracket semifinals.

In the semifinals, Thorp was impressive, dispatching Anthony Litchfield of Union, 6-2, 6-2. Alex Wallace from North Kitsap delivered the only sour note to the outdtanding Lancer ace by defeating Thorp 6-2, 6-2, in the championship match.

This performance was an indication of the Kennedy team's outstanding season. The Lancers won the competitive Seamount League in a torrid three team battle of area high schools. Kennedy finished at 14-1 to edge out Evergreen (13-2) with Mount Rainier one win further back at 12-3.

"We've had a great season," observed Kennedy coach Mara Vatz. "Our depth goes through the entire team. The players are all at pretty much the same high level, so we could put any number of combinations without seeing any real fall off in performance. They did a great job. Of our six district entries, five win first round matches."

Felicia Doubek was another high quality Lancer ace who took her achievements past the first round win into her first-ever state berth in girls singles. Doubek fought past Bre Casias of Bremerton, 6-4, 7-5, in the round of 16 before Lauren McCann of Union (Camas) sent Doubek into the treacherous loser-out consolation draw, 6-1, 6-3.

Showing her resilence, the tall Lancer earned one of eight available state berths by eliminating Natalie Nicholson of Capital, 6-2, 6-4.

"It was a good match," Doubek recalled. "She returned well and made me move. I had to take advantage of the angles and play my own game, which is being able to hit well from anywhere on the court. I've never been to state, so it's exciting for me."

Doubek continued with a 6-1, 6-2, win over Capital's Kelly Joiner. In a long and riveting match, another Highline area player, Sakura Porter of Evergreen outlasted Doubek, 2-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5) in the 4th-6th seed match up.

Porter's odyssey to state originated in a first round 6-2, 7-5, defeat of Capital's Joiner. Eventual champion Victoria Tam of Port Angeles proved to be too strong for the Wolverine in a 6-0, 6-1, quarterfinal win against Porter.

Regrouping and rallying in the consolation round, Porter lost the first set, but rejuvenated herself to claim a 2-6, 6-2, 6-1, victory against Sara Webster of Franklin Pierce to gain a state berth.

Porter powered past Casias, 7-6 (7-3), 6-1, on the way to her riveting match against Doubek. In the first set, the Lancers' Doubek stayed strong in rallies and made fewer mistakes to win the first set, 6-2. The outcome of the next sets stayed in doubt until the end with both players showing exhaustion and great heart, refusing to quit. Holding serve became problematic as each player reached the brink of victory numerous times.

"We were both determined to win because we wanted to get the highest seeding possible," exclaimed Porter. "I knew it was going to be tough adjusting to being on my own. I need to be aggressive and work on my consistency."

Porter was a state qualifier in doubles last season.

"I'm just delighted," said Burdin. "We had four entries here. Our young players had a good experience and we had high expectations for Sakura."

Highline High School provided a state doubles team in the form of underclassmen Jenalle Gould and Blake Henley. The enthusiastic youngsters opened tournament play with a 6-3, 6-4, loss to Alice and Emily McCoy of Bonney Lake.

Alexis Gregerson and Dorothy Franks of Mount Rainier won their first round before losing in the quarterfinals, setting up a winner-to-state, loser-out match against the Pirate pair. Gould and Henley prevailed, 6-2, 6-3.

"The match was really stressful," admitted Gould. "We had to stay focused."

In a match moved to the Tacoma Lawn and Tennis Club, the duo had a four-hour wait before playing on Friday.

"It was a nice place to play," said Henley while sporting her "Shake and Blake" warmup jacket.

Emma Leimback and Kedra Bal of Yelm defeated the Highline tandem, 6-3, 6-3, before Annika Sumpter and Madison Scwartz of Camas defeated Gould and Henley in the seventh place-eighth place match, 1-6, 6-2, 7-5. Christina Le and Megan Carter of Union won the doubles championship.

"It was a great accomplishment for our girls," said Highline Pirate coach Scott Babcock. "There were a lot of great teams here and it was a great accomplishment. I'm proud of them."

Triton Pitassi and Andy Tweet of Union took the boys doubles championship.

In team competition, Union made a statement by acquiring both the boys and girls team championship trophies. The Titans edged out Lakes, 18-14, for the boys title while Union scraped past Columbia River, 18-14, in girls action.

Thorp began state play against Jordan Smith of Mercer Island while Porter played Nora Tan of the Islanders. For Doubek, the next step was against Natalie Allen of Holy Names. The Highline girls doubles team squared of against Monica Gille and Sarah Desautels of Glacier Peak in another May 28th battle at the Vancouver Tennis Center.