Young tennis team takes the court for the Broncos

The Lind-Ritzville/Sprague tennis team competed in three matches to begin the season for the Broncos. Head coaches Liz Melville and Lorrie Swanger are returning to lead the team, and with so many new and young players, the coaches are preparing for a rebuilding year.

The Broncos took the court first against the St. George’s Dragons at Whitworth University on March 22. The day started out with early success by both of the No. 1 singles players for the Broncos, but both the girl’s and boy’s teams ended the day with a 1-4 record.

On the girl’s side, Rose Melville came out strong to defeat Lauren Senske in the No. 1 singles match. Melville and Senske both competed at the state level last season, but Melville battled for the 6-1, 6-3 win.

In the No. 2 girl’s singles, Emily Boutain stepped into the role to face Manisha Sinha. Boutain suffered a 6-0, 6-2 loss to Sinha.

Also competing for the girl’s in the No. 3 singles was Leann Harlan, who suffered a 6-0, 6-0 loss to her St. George’s opponent.

In the doubles contest, the Broncos forfeited the competition, accounting for one loss of the day.

For the boys, Travis Ste. Marie returned to the court for the Broncos in the No. 1 singles position. Ste. Marie faced off against Case Martin in his first match of the season, and Ste. Marie battled to earn a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Martin.

Following Ste. Marie’s performance, Josh Yow faced Alex Poppel in the No. 2 singles match. Poppel defeated Yow 6-1, 6-0 in a hard fought contest.

The Broncos forfeited the No. 3 singles match, but Yow played back and won the match.

The boy’s had two doubles teams take the court for the Broncos. Zane Swanger and Awson Wheeler teamed up to play as the No. 1 doubles team.

Swanger and Wheeler lost the match to Collin Cremers and Conner Cremers with a score of 6-0, 6-0.

Tre Schalk and Isaac Yow competed as the No. 2 doubles team and faced Andrew Jaihaihen and Patrick Hasdorff. The St. George’s duo battled hard against the Broncos team, and earned a 6-2, 6-1 win over Schalk and Yow.

On March 26, the LRS girl’s team hosted Kettle Falls in Ritzville. The Bulldogs do not have a boys team, and only had four girls competing during the Saturday match.

Melville battled hard on the court to earn her second win of the season in the No. 1 singles spot. Melville defeated Stephanie Forthomme 6-2, 6-1.

Harlan continued in her role as the No. 2 singles player for the Broncos, but faced a 7-5, 6-2 loss to Janina Kraft after a tough match.

In the No. 3 singles match, Kim Rios earned a win for the Broncos because of a forfeit.

Mya Lynch and Megan Buriak took the court as the No. 1 doubles team and matched up against a tough Bulldog duo. Lynch and Buriak took the win over Calista McCure and Jessica Lawrence 6-1, 3-6, 6-4.

Head Coach Melville said the doubles match proved an even competition and the two Broncos stepped up to play an excellent match.

The Broncos continued on to face Davenport on March 29 in Ritzville. Both teams lost the match: the girls 2-3, and boys 1-4.

Melville continued her success with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Jackie Soto in the No. 1 singles match. Melville remains focus on earning a return trip to state as a sophomore this season.

In the No. 2 singles match, Harlan suffered a 6-1, 6-0 loss to Kylene Edwards.

In the No. 3 singles match, Buriak defeated Aslyn Morris 6-4 then a walkover due to illness. Head Coach Melville said Buriak played very well during the match, especially against such a strong hitter.

Rios and Lynch teamed up to compete in the No. 1 doubles match for the Broncos. Davenport’s Olivia Holden and Jade Smith took the win from the Broncos, earning a 6-1, 6-0 victory.

The Broncos lost the No. 2 doubles set by forfeit.

For the boys, Ste. Marie stepped up to improve his level of competition against Kyle Edwards in the No. 1 singles match. Ste. Marie earned another win for the season, defeating Edwards 7-5, 6-2.

Issac Yow returned to the No. 2 singles spot for the Broncos to face Drake Elwood. The Gorilla athlete earned a 6-0, 6-0 win over Yow.

In the No. 2 doubles match, Luke Erickson and Matt Delafield defeated Wheeler and Swanger 6-3, 6-3.

For the Broncos, both the No. 3 singles match and No. 2 doubles match ended in a forfeit, counting as a loss for the team.

“Our strength as a team right now is that the kids are all very resilient and are supporting each other. We are a very young team so we are going to get beat by many more experienced teams,” Melville said about the team.

“However, the kids are taking this in stride, staying positive in the matches and willing to work on improving during practice,” Melville added.

“Travis and Rose have both played several worthy opponents who they have both played excellent matches against,” Melville said about the Broncos No. 1 singles players. “They are both focusing on adding more offense to their very good defense during their matches.”