BY GERARDO BOLONG
Special to the Times-News
LAKEWOOD - SPSL 2A girls Mountain Division tennis champion Foster added to its laurels by winning the league team championship in concluding action at Clover Park High School on Sat., May 13.
Mountain division player of the year Ana Rios defeated first team Mountain teammate Aileen Nguyen in the singles final, giving the Bulldogs the top two seeds to West Central District.
First team All-Mountain players Aivy Nguyen and Cora Padilla teamed for a fifth place finish in doubles.
All-Mountain honorable mention Bulldog netters Ashley Gonzales and Lwam Woldemariam took sixth in the doubles while the unseeded pairing of Monita Keo and Tasha Hong earned seventh place to make Foster's district representation two singles players and three doubles teams.
"This was a testament of our (undefeated league) season," said Mountain coach of the year Sop Ngeth. "They fought through in all the matches. I'm proud of how all our players executed. I'm especially proud of our unseeded doubles team that took seventh. Coaching many years of tennis, I haven't had a team with this much grit on the courts. It really feels like a team out there. They support each other but also cheer the other teams when good shots are made. They just like seeing good tennis."
This attitude was exemplified by Foster being voted the Mountain Division Sportsmanship Award.
Doubles competition was tough as the high tier tandems were tightly contested throughout. Foster's No. 3 doubles was within a tie-break of defeating the No. 2 seed early in the tournament and the other doubles teams were within a whisker of being at least one more position higher in their finishes.
Other area teams had good results, as well.
First team All-Sound Division players Stella Fosberg and Chloe Watson of Highline High School stormed through to take the doubles title.
All-Sound honorable mention Vicki Lucatero and Tina Duong of Tyee gained the SPSL No. 8 seed to district which begins on May 17.
Keo and Hong of Foster open up against teammates Nguyen and Padilla while Bulldogs Gonzalez and Woldemariam square off against Olympic No. 4 Dietzman and D'Amico of Sequim in their district opener. Lucatero and Huong of Tyee match up against Stine Nielsen and Flynn Hibbs of of North Kitsap.
Fosberg and Watson await the winner of Sequim versus Foster.
Rios and Nguyen of Foster each will play winners of earlier district singles matches.