Vashon tennis ends successful season

Vashon High School’s boys tennis team finished its regular season with a record of five wins and four losses.

The team came close to beating the competitive team from Charles Wright Academy at its last match on Monday, Oct. 11, said tennis coach Jake Dillon.

“We won two matches off of them, and we were pretty close to winning. It was pretty much the best we’ve played all year,” he said.

Dillon was pleased with the team’s overall winning record, saying the boys have played some of the toughest teams in the state in their Nisqually league matches, including Charles Wright Academy, Cascade Christian High School and Northwest Christian High School.

“The best singles and doubles teams in the last four or five years have all come out of our league,” he said. “It’s a tough division.”

Dillon said the team did especially well considering that the majority of the 15 boys were young players. The team consisted of mostly freshman and sophomores this year, with a handful of juniors and seniors, some who were new to the sport, Dillon said.

“We’re young, but were getting a lot better quickly,” he said. “We’re going to be getting tough in the next couple years. I’m pretty excited about the future.”

Today, six of the boys will travel to Charles Wright Academy to compete in the league tournament. Ben Whitaker and Zach Barker will compete in singles matches, and Sjors Steneker, Ben Reoux, Peter Amick and Ian Peterson will compete it doubles matches.

The top three singles players and top three doubles teams in the league will move on to the district tournament in the spring.

“If any of them get through, it will be a big deal,” Dillon said.