Three earn state trip in tennis

Tracy Melville, Kelly Melville and Alanna Wheeler have all earned a trip to the state tennis tournament in Yakima this weekend.

Eight Bronco tennis athletes traveled to the regional tournament last week with only three athletes qualifying to continue their season.

The Bronco girls led the charge for the team at the tournament and earned a first place finish out of the five A and seven B teams present at the tournament.

Leading the team was sophomore athlete Tracy Melville in the singles contest.

Melville won the first two rounds handily over Medical Lake and Freeman before facing league rival Darby Pierce in the final round of the tournament.

Pierce won the first set of the match 6-7, but Melville battled back to sneak past Pierce in the second set with a 6-4 victory. Melville battled and controlled the third set, winning 6-0 over Pierce and securing a trip to the state tournament.

In the doubles competition, Kelly Melville and Wheeler won their first match easily over Medical Lake.

In the second round of the tournament, the duo faced Freeman and had to battle to eventually earn the win.

The girls lost their first match of the season against Chewelah, but the early wins in the tournament provided them with the opportunity to compete at state.

The Broncos number two doubles team of Kymberlee Webb and Rachel Barrus also competed at the regional tournament, but faced early defeat, preventing them from the opportunity of continuing on to state.

Zach Swanger ended his career as a high school tennis athlete after facing tough competitors at the regional tournament. Swanger lost his first match of the tournament to Heime Aragon of Riverside, who eventually went on to win the tournament.

Swanger defeated Chewelah’s second qualifier for the opportunity to move on to state, but matched up against Davenport’s Max Mielke who won the match, knocking Swanger out of the tournament.

In the boys’ doubles competition, Alex Wheeler and Kyle Canaday stepped up to be a force on the court, but fell just short of qualifying for state. The duo lost in the first round to Medical Lake, but battled back to win in the second round against Lakeside.

In the match to continue on to state, Wheeler and Canaday faced defeat against St. George’s number two doubles team.