By Naiya Brown
The Silverton High girls and boys tennis teams are enjoying undefeated dual match seasons to date and showing positive momentum, both coaches said.
“It’s been good,” said long-time girls coach Shawn Pool. “We have a very strong team, especially in the doubles, but our singles team is very good as well. We are returning our doubles that took fifth in state last year and hoping for improvement on that.”
Lindsey Gardner and Paige Davisson took home the fifth place medals last season, and they form the No. 1 doubles team on this year’s squad. The top singles players are No. 1 Audrey Gardner and No. 2 Millie Leikem. The No. 2 doubles team consists of Melia Taylor and Leialoha Taylor.
Pool is a 16-year coaching veteran at Silverton, where he has coached volleyball and basketball as well as tennis.
Van Khieu, the Foxes’ boys coach, served eight years as Pool’s assistant with the girls program before taking over as the boys coach three years ago.
“My goals and expectations for all my players is to enjoy playing tennis and at the same time with a goal in trying to reach the state championships in May,” Khieu said.
For the boys, the top singles players are No. 1 Owen Rogers, No. 2 Erik Hayter, No. 3 Jesus Camas, and No. 4 Levi Lawson. The top doubles teams are Jesse Mallorie and Kenny Pyper, and Barrett Teeney and Brandon Metzger.
The boys squad added nine new players this season, all with promising ability, Khieu said. Among the top newcomers are the undefeated doubles team of Brody Kuenzi and Tristan Keopadapsy and singles players Evan Good and Jesus Escalona.
“We will continue to play our best tennis as a team to put ourselves in a strong position for districts in May,” Khieu said.
The district meet is May 10-12 at the Timberhill Tennis Club in Corvallis. The state meet is May 19-20 at the West Hills Racquet and Fitness Club in Portland and the Tualatin Hills Tennis Center in Beaverton.
Editor’s note: Brown, a junior at Silverton High/Sequoia Falls, is working with Our Town this spring with support from the Oregon Youth Development Division Future Ready Grant program.
