Alex Wallace learned all about heartbreak at last year’s Class 3A state tennis tournament.
This season, the Union sophomore is trying to provide a ray of sunlight on what has been a rather dark state tournament for the Union tennis program.
Wallace posted a pair of straight-set victories Friday to advance to the boys singles semifinals for a second consecutive season.
“You know, last year I was this close to reaching the finals,” said Wallace, holding his index finger and thumb an inch apart. “I had match point in the semifinals and lost. And the kid who beat me went on to win the state championship. But then, I was a freshman and he was a sophomore. I went in with no expectations.”
Expectations are bit higher this year for Wallace after he beat Mount Spokane’s Justin McClain 6-0, 6-3 and Sammamish’s Dragos Puscalau 6-3, 6-4. He’ll face Seattle Prep’s Taylor Hunt in the semifinals today at Vancouver Tennis Center.
“I played about as well as I could play today,” Wallace said. “If I can play like that tomorrow, I think I’ll be in good shape.”
The tournament is not shaping up as well for the Union girls doubles team of Christina Le and Megan Carter, considered state-title contenders entering the tournament after beating the defending state champions at the bi-district tournament last week.
But Le and Carter never could find a rhythm against Mercer Island’s Chelsea Bailey and Julia Schubach, losing 5-7, 6-3, 1-0 (12-10). Because of Friday’s rain, third sets were played as a super tiebreaker.
Union coach Dave Heitsch was left to ponder what might have happened if Friday were sunny and a regular third set had been played.
“That Mercer Island team was a good team, but it’s still a team that we would expect Christina and Megan to beat,” Heitsch said. “But not today. I guess it was just one of those days.”
Le struggled with her serve throughout match, forcing her to ease up on what is usually a powerful weapon in her game.
“That’s what you have to do when you aren’t getting your serves in,” Heitsch said. “You spin it and get it in because in doubles you know you have help. And Megan did a great job of helping her out.”
But in the end, too many unforced errors against the consistent Mercer Island tandem sunk Le and Carter, who remained in the hunt for fourth place today after eliminating Columbia River’s Julie Piboonvaranggoon and Lauren Wetzel in the consolation quarterfinals.
The struggles of Le and Carter were just the tip of the iceberg for Union. Victoria Tam, a state semifinalist last year, will not place this year after losing in the first round and again in the consolation quarterfinals.
“It was just a tough draw for Victoria,” Heitsch said. “I’ve never seen a day like this. We went from thinking we could win a state team title to this.”
A tough draw also hurt the Camas boys doubles team of Triton Pitassi and Andy Tweet, who lost a first-round match to Aaron Farmer and Daniel Wenker of West Valley of Yakima. Farmer and Wenker went on to advance to the semifinals. Pitassi and Tweet were later eliminated in the consolation quarterfinals.
In other brackets:
• Defending girls doubles state champions Anna Nelson and Lauren Redman of Enumclaw were beaten by Sammamish’s Anissa Bryant-Swift and Malia Lum in the quarterfinals. All four girls doubles teams from District 2 advanced to the semifinals.
• Three of the four semifinalists in both the boys and girls singles also were from District 2. Defending girls singles champion Natalie Allen advanced to the semifinals as did Bainbridge’s Sasha Carter, a 2008 state champion at Class 1A.
