The Thomas Jefferson girls tennis team entered the 2013 season as the prohibitive favorites to repeat as the South Puget Sound League Central Division champions.
The Raiders didn’t disappoint. Jefferson rolled through the SPSL Central regular season with a perfect 10-0 record, capped with a 5-0 win over Curtis Tuesday afternoon.
Jefferson lost a grand total of five games during the sweep of Curtis. All three doubles’ teams won 6-0, 6-0, Cindy Park and Crystal Lee at No. 1, Toni Mullen and Rileigh Qualls at No. 2 and Nichelle Song and Gloria Oh at No. 3.
On the singles’ courts, Michelle Lee beat Jessie Swofford, 6-3, 6-0, and Coco Hernandez-Tagoe won at No. 2, 6-1, 6-1.
Jefferson was led all season by Park and Lee. The pair finished 5-0 playing together during the regular season and are looking to make their first state tournament playing together.
Park, a junior, played at state two years ago as a freshman, but was eliminated at the district tournament level last season. Lee is an ultra-talented freshman.
Next up for the Raiders and the rest of the district tennis players is the postseason, which kicks off Friday with the first two rounds of the SPSL Tournament. It continues through Tuesday with berths to the West Central/Southwest District Tournament on the line.
Districts will run May 17-18 at the Capitol City Club in Tumwater with the top-eight finishers in both singles and doubles advancing to state.
The Todd Beamer Titans, coached by former TJ player Patrick Nam, finished second in the SPSL Central with an 8-2 record. The Titans’ only two losses of the year came against Jefferson.
Beamer finished its regular season with a 4-1 victory over Auburn Tuesday. The Titans’ wins came from Nicole Bowman at No. 2 singles, 6-2, 6-1, Jenny Hoefel and Kiele Bowman at No. 1 doubles, 7-5, 6-0, Alyssa Tyson and Tori Kaufman at No. 2, 6-4, 6-0, and Jenifer Tran and Kylie Fisher at No. 3, 3-6, 6-2, 10-6.
Hoefel and Bowman have been leading leading the Titans all season long. The doubles team finished the regular season with an 8-1 record and are looking to finish their stellar prep careers with another trip to the Class 4A State Girls Tennis Tournament. The pair, both seniors, finished 0-2 at state last year.
Beamer also got a huge contribution from Lindsey Tyson. The senior lost only two matches at No. 1 singles to TJ’s Park and Auburn’s Lauren Thornquist, who finished unbeaten on the season.