2019 tennis campaign ends at District Tournament for LRS

The tennis season came to an end for the Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Broncos last week in the Northeast 2B District Tournament.

No players from the Broncos were able to advance to the Regional Tournament this weekend, but some came awfully close.

In the girls singles bracket, both No. 1 and No. 2 LRS singles players Claire Kessler and Katheran Gingrich easily won their first match on May 7, both winning 6-0, 6-0 to move on to the second round. Kessler won her match via forfeit, while Gingrich took down Jordan Larmer from Harrington.

In the second round of action, also taking place on May 7, Kessler breezed to an easy 6-0, 6-1 victory over Wilbur-Creston's Leah Goodwin. But Gingrich wasn't able to match Kessler in the win column, falling to Karilee DesAutel-the No. 1 singles player from Chewelah-3-6, 1-6.

In other day one action, LRS' No. 3 singles player Kim Rios fell in the first round to Wilbur-Creston's Danaca Colvin, eliminating her from the tournament. Sean Roby, the only boys singles player for the Broncos in the tournament, fell in his first round match to Wilbur-Creston's Jake Mattox, dropping him to the consolation side of the bracket. Roby beat Wilbur-Creston's Logan Phifer 6-4, 6-0 in his next match, but fell 4-6, 3-6 to Davenport's Tyler Groom in his third match to end his season.

The girls doubles team of Amy and Sharon Anderson fell in a back-and-forth match against a doubles team from St. George's in their opening match, falling 6-2, 2-6, 6-1. In the consolation bracket, they fell to a doubles team from Kettle Falls 5-7, 2-6 to end their season. On the boys doubles side, the team of Eli Michels and Leo Rios fell to the No. 2 doubles team from regular season league champions Chewelah, and then fell to a doubles team from Davenport in the consolation bracket to end their season.

Kessler and Gingrich carried the flag for the Broncos heading into the second day of the tournament on May 11, but Kessler unfortunately had to pull out of the tournament due to an illness, ending her season.

That left Gingrich all alone in the draw to represent the Broncos, but she competed admirably. In her first match in the consolation bracket, Gingrich blew past Chewelah's No. 3 singles player Jenny Kiefer, 6-1, 6-2. Gingrich's second match on the day was more of the same, breezing past St. George's Winnie Wu 6-2, 6-1 to put her within one match of ensuring a top-four finish.

Gingrich went up against Kettle Falls' Jessica Lawrence, who had earlier in the day fallen to Kylene Edwards, the eventual girls singles champion. In what was Gingrich's third match of the day compared to Lawrence's second, Gingrich was not able to pull out a third consecutive victory, falling 2-6, 1-6.

Although the season has come to an end, the future remains bright for the Broncos tennis squad. Both Kessler and Gingrich are expected to return as seniors to next year's team, providing a healthy dose of experience. Both Leo Rios and Eli Michels are freshman, as is Amy Anderson.