Mission advances netters to state
TROY — Many of the boys and girls of Mission tennis earned their spots in state after a strong showing at the divisional tennis tournaments this past week.
For the boys, senior Wyatt McCollum took top honors with a championship win by a score of 6-4, 3-6, 10-0 over Loyola’s Michael Breza.
At the No. 2 singles spot, senior Clayton Makepeace also got the job done and finished gold with a final win over Loyola’s Cade Cross by a score of 6-3, 6-4. Clayton won his final and semi-final in two sets and foraged a three-set win in his first match to earn his way to those top contenders.
Spencer Ahlborn took second place at the No. 3 singles spot with a loss to Erich Dieziger of Loyola. That final was a battle, with a tiebreak win going to Dieziger in the first set and a 6-4 set finishing things off in the Loyola hitter’s favor.
At the top of the doubles ladder, the combination of Marius Eck and Ty McCollum tied for first place.
Bryan Schock and Bundy took second at No. 2 doubles.
“The boys are ready to see what they can do at State this weekend,” Mission head coach Kimimi Ashley said. “They have done well the past two weekends in tournament play against the other teams in Missoula and St. Ignatius. Last year St. Ignatius only had one boy left in play after the first day. This is something that the boys are looking to change this year. They’ve been working hard in practice and playing lots of sets. It’s in the boys’ hands now to work hard and take it to the courts at State.”
On the girls end, Mission’s No. 1 singles player, Jane Makepeace, lost an early heartbreaker match to the eventual silver medalist, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (5-7).
But she took her consolation match to earn her way into state with a fifth place finish.
“This was a great experience for Jane. She is only a freshman and played most of her season as the No. 1 seed and did well at it. To stay mentally strong and know what she needed to do to go to state will help her in upcoming high school tennis seasons,” Ashley said.
Meanwhile Egyptian exchange student Yasmine ElMenshawy finished third with a 6-2, 7-5 win in the top consolation final.
“If Yasmine comes into state with the same mental toughness she has had all year, she could surprise some girls with just her determination. She doesn’t give up much and battles hard,” Ashley said.
The doubles team of Anna Fehrs and Sarah Bowers didn’t have much to be disappointed about. The pair went gold, winning their final 6-3, 6-4. Putting them together turned out to be the right choice, Ashley said.
“I am proud of the girls in that they understood why we wanted to pair them together toward the end of the season and they worked hard at becoming a tough doubles team. They had both played singles for most of the season, but together they are just very compatible in personality and play. They played well at the Best of the West tournament this year and it will be fun to see how they do at state. It’s anybody’s game on any given day. If you show up ready, it’s as much your day as anyone else’s,” Ashley said.
The Mission girl’s team took second place overall at the tournament.
Both teams compete at state on Thursday through Saturday in Missoula.
Play for the boys starts at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday and Friday at the Playfair tennis courts. Play for the girls starts at 8:30 a.m. at the UM tennis courts.
Both teams play at UM on Saturday.