LRS tennis season concludes at state

The Lind-Ritzville/Sprague tennis team had two athletes represent the Broncos during the State Tennis Tournament in Yakima on May 27-28.

Sophomore Rose Melville made a return trip to the tournament, while senior Travis Ste. Marie earned his first trip to the state event. Melville returned home with an eighth place medal.

Melville faced a tough draw in the first round of the tournament, facing off against last year’s state champion Sasha Cayward. The two battled on the court before Cayward took the match 6-0, 6-0.

The loss moved Melville down in the bracket but she continued on to beat Hannah Singco from LaSalle 7-5, 6-2.

With the momentum of the win, Melville secured another victory at the tournament with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Madeline Bell of LaSalle.

In the final match of the tournament, Melville fell to Penelope Owen from Seattle Academy. Even with the 6-4, 6-1 loss, Melville brought home an eighth place medal for the Broncos.

Ste. Marie faced tough competition from the beginning as well.

Head Coach Liz Melville said Ste. Marie had two very close matches, but the losses prevented him from also earning a medal at state.

Ste. Marie first lost to Kody Newman from South Whidbey 6-3, 6-3. The loss moved him into the most competitive match of the day against Devyn Grillo from Omak.

Grillo eventually earned the victory after the duo pushed the match into three sets. Ste. Marie lost the match to Grillo, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, and ended his state experience in Yakima.

Coach Melville said both athletes represented the LRS team well with both attitude and effort.

The two athletes played well, but the competition level had increased from the previous year, Coach Melville said.

Both Melville and Ste. Marie were undefeated in league and district competitions this season. Both faced their first loss at Regionals.