By PAT MULVIHILL

For The Beachcomber

The 2015 boys’ tennis season ended with an exciting and successful run at the district tournament in Tacoma.

In qualifying for the tournament, the Pirates were only able to send one singles and one doubles team, despite Vashon High School having several other players and teams with skills to do well at the tournament. The choice was due to the fact that the two doubles teams had to play one another for the tournament’s last spot.

The district tournament that ran from Thursday, Oct. 29, to Tuesday, Nov. 3, combined the top players from the Nisqually and Olympic leagues and was held on the indoor courts at Sprinker Tennis Center in Tacoma. The district tournament is particularly tough, as the players often need to play up to four long, three-set matches, which is well beyond the normal one-match-per-day-schedule during the season.

The Vashon doubles team of Tristan Krjacovic and Payton Lieske had a tough draw; they had to win a preliminary match just to get into the main tournament draw. After winning that match, they faced the top seed and last year’s state finalists from Charles Wright Academy.

Although Krjacovic and Lieske put up a great fight, they eventually fell to the top seed, but then won their next match before being eliminated by the second Charles Wright team in a somewhat controversial match.

In singles, Josh Tillman capped his senior season with a fantastic performance. After winning his first match, he lost to the top seed from Charles Wright in a very tight match. He then regrouped and won his next two matches, including a win over the Olympic League’s top singles player.

This set up a match against the Charles Wright number two singles player for second place, the last transfer to the state tournament. Tillman had lost to this player twice during the season but won the first set.

After the Charles Wright player came back and won the second set, the two played a nerve-wracking third set. Tillman was able to take the set and the trip to state.

Vashon earned second place in the team standings. With a 7-3 record, second in the district, and sending one qualifier to state, it was a great way for this senior-laden team to finish off its year.

— Pat Mulvihill is the head coach of the VHS boys’ tennis team