Weiser girls place second at state tennis championships

By: 
Steve Lyon

The Weiser High School varsity girls tennis team brought home a trophy for their second-place finish at the 3A state tennis championships played over two days last weekend.
 The Parma girls won the team title with 53.5 points. Weiser was second with 42.5 points and Fruitland came in third place with 25 points. The varsity boys took sixth place out of a field of 14 teams that competed at state.
 Due to rain that wouldn’t let up, the matches were moved indoors to the Eagle tennis center on Friday.
 Girls singles players Grace Soulen and Andrea Bouvia played strong and placed second and third, respectively, in the 3A tournament, after winning their opening matches.
 The two finished in third and fourth places last year and improved their records at state this year.
 “We’re very happy all around for our entire team, and most especially for our girls team placing second at state for the second year in a row,” coach Angie Soulen said. “Grace and Andrea at girls singles did everything they could do, and we’re very proud of second and third.”
 Soulen, a junior who will be back next year, gave up just two games out of 26 against her first two opponents to reach the finals. She beat Parma’s Austyn Harris 6-0, 6-0 and then ran over Chanlar O’Neil of Fruitland 6-2, 6-0 to meet Ririe’s Annalee Ball in the championship game of girls singles.
 Soulen couldn’t get by Ball and lost in straight sets, 1-6, 2-6 for second place.
 “She is a lot of fun to watch and has a lot of talent and different tools in her toolbox. When she is able to pull them all out and use them it’s very entertaining tennis,” the coach said.
 Weiser’s No. 2 girls singles player Andrea Bouvia also had a nice run through the tournament bracket. She won her first two matches and faced Annalee Ball of Ririe in the semi-finals. Bouvia lost to the eventual state champion 1-6, 0-6.

The Weiser boys singles players ran into some tough competition and did not place in the top four. The 3A singles winner was a player from Sun Valley Community School.
 The No. 2 Weiser girls double team of Denica McClellan and Emma Tolman placed fourth at state after battling through the consolation bracket. They ended up playing a semi-final consolation match against teammates and Weiser’s No. 1 doubles team of Sienna McClellan and Brooke Anderson.
 McClellan and Tolman won the match 7-5, 6-0 and faced a doubles team from Sugar-Salem in the consolation finals. The Weiser girls played tough but dropped the match in three sets for fourth place.
 Both of the Weiser boys doubles team ran into some top competition early and did not place. Parma earned first place and Sugar-Salem took second at state.
 Weiser’s No. 1 mixed doubles team of Pedro Ixta and Bentley Weldon won their first match against a doubles team from Sugar-Salem but dropped the next match to Clearwater Valley 5-7, 2-6. In the consolation match, the Weiser team beat the No. 2 Clearwater Valley team, but lost to Fruitland.
 Soulen said the eight game pro set against Clearwater Valley in the second round of consolation may have been the match of the tournament for Weiser. After Ixta suffered an elbow injury and was forced to play with a wrapped arm, Weldon covered the court like a singles player.
 The Weiser varsity tennis team will lose four seniors to graduation this year, but there are some hungry JV players ready to step up, Soulen said. The middle school is also producing some talented tennis players.
 Soulen said she couldn’t count how many times opposing coaches or players or their parents remarked to her and others that the Weiser players are competitive but fair and nice.
 “Many thanks to all the players, coaches, volunteers, parents and fans for coming out and watching this year and supporting our team,” Soulen said.
 

Category:

Signal American

18 E. Idaho St.
Weiser, ID 83672
PH: (208) 549-1717
FAX: (208) 549-1718
 

Connect with Us