As a light rain let up to allow Philomath and Stayton to get in a tennis dual Tuesday afternoon, the home-court Warriors were hitting a lot of winners on three of the four courts as the opening matches got underway.
A lot of winners — from the baseline, at the net and through effective serving.
In fact, in those matches, Philomath didn’t give up a single game with all three ending up as 6-0, 6-0 sweeps. In singles, senior Bailey Bell defeated a quality opponent in Eagles junior Laina Atiyeh and junior Adele Beckstead outplayed junior Lorelei Ritchie. And in doubles, PHS seniors Nadia Durski and Daniella Carlisle had too much for juniors Audrey Ritchie and Kadence Kuiken.
Along with a doubles victory by senior Lorelei Schell and sophomore Lucie Oster (6-3, 6-4) and a singles win by senior Elise Reese (7-5, 6-1), the Warriors nailed down a 5-3 team win.
Bell and Beckstead have attracted a fair amount of attention in recent years with their consistent success on the court in singles but Philomath has a pretty competitive pair at No. 1 doubles with Durski and Carlisle.
Last season, Carlisle played at No. 1 doubles with Phoebe Dodson while Durski shared the court at No. 2 doubles with Schell. This season, coach Greg Thorson paired them together for a run through Special District 2.
Durski said the transition to a new doubles partner has been seamless.
“I play forehand and she plays backhand and she’s really good in the match playing back,” she said. “It just works out really well.”
Carlisle sees their skills complementing each other as well.
“Nadia’s really good at the net and I’m better on the baseline,” she said. “That’s always the best for us.”
Durski and Carlisle both have some tennis in their backgrounds through siblings that played. Part of a large senior class playing the sport this season, both have been in the program all four years.
Durski and Carlisle have won eight of 10 matches this season — one of those losses coming out of district play early against 5A Silverton and the other against a good Marist Catholic team. They’re hoping to have a shot at the No. 2 seed for next month’s district tournament.
“I know we won’t be seeded first and we could be anywhere from second to fourth,” Durski said.
Said Carlisle, “Our biggest competitor will be Cascade to secure that spot for districts.”
In other action from Tuesday against the Eagles, senior Megan Reese was competitive but came up short at No. 3 singles, 6-4, 6-4. Sophomores Logan Cook and Lacey Bacho were unable to keep pace with their opponents in a 6-1, 6-3 loss at No. 3 doubles. In the No. 4 doubles slot, Stayton’s Molly Schotthoefer and Jazmyne Adams held on to beat sophomore Lucy King and freshman Clara Neville, 7-6 (8-6), 2-6, 11-9. The match went to a 10-point tiebreaker for the third set to determine a winner since the dual’s outcome had already been decided at that point in the afternoon.
Philomath’s schedule shows its next match as April 25 at Estacada.
