CORVALLIS — Philomath High’s Lucy King and Marist Catholic’s Phoebie Larson have more than a little in common.
Both are graduating seniors. Both have twin sisters who play doubles. And come fall, they’ll trade towns — King leaving the Philomath-Corvallis area for the University of Oregon in Eugene, Larson leaving Eugene for Oregon State in Corvallis.
They also share a tennis season that carried each of them to the 4A/3A/2A/1A state championships — and a court, where they met Friday morning for the third time this spring.
This time, in the second round of the state tournament at the OSU Tennis Complex, it was Larson, the No. 3 seed, taking a 6-2, 6-2 win. The loss closed out King’s final season with the Warriors, capping a senior year in which she worked her way into the No. 1 singles spot despite starting a couple of weeks behind her teammates.
“She’s a great kid and a senior — it’s tough to see her go,” Philomath coach Mark Orozco said. “I like her competitiveness and her ability just to win.”
King knew exactly who she was facing, and that familiarity shaped her game plan.
“When I have the advantage, she really gets in her head, so I was like, ‘OK, if I can just keep the momentum going,'” King said. “I also know her moves for me, so I knew kind of how to combat those.”
The knowledge cut both ways. Larson, drawing on their earlier meetings, repeatedly found winners on hard shots King couldn’t reach. Larson followed up with another victory and is among the four players in the semifinals.
King was the lone PHS player to reach state this season, finishing with a 14-4 record — three of those losses to Larson and another to Marist junior and state qualifier Alanna Scala.
She had opened the tournament Thursday afternoon with a 6-1, 6-2 first-round win over Stanfield senior Kylee Almonte. Interestingly, she said the easier result was the harder match.
“It was a hard match for me mentally,” King said. “I felt a lot better about this game (vs. Larson) than I did about that game — and I won that game.”
She admitted nerves got the better of her early against Almonte. “I just kind of got in my head and I wasn’t playing super well.” She won anyway.
“She hit a lot of deep shots and kept her on the baseline and then slice-and-dropped her so she couldn’t get to it,” Orozco said. “Knowing that Phoebie was next, she went out and took care of business.”
Because only first-round losers drop into the consolation bracket, King’s second-round defeat ended her tournament — a tradeoff her coach didn’t mind.
“I think playing in the main draw is better than playing in the consolation side, and I thought she did well with that first round,” Orozco said. “I was glad to see that happen for us. It’s going to be sad to see her go.”
King, who picked up tennis for the first time just three years ago, plans to keep playing — she and other PHS players still get together for fun. Reaching the top of the Warriors roster and winning a match at state in that short a span left her with some advice for beginners.
“I would say stick with it,” King said. “Tennis is a game that if you are trying really hard and you’re showing up to practice consistently, you will get better. It’s so skill-based.”
