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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend May 21, 2005 North’s doubles team advances to semifinals The North Medford doubles team of McKenzie Hilmer and Lauren Wilson will have more than just an opponent from Jesuit to contend with today in the semifinals of the Class 4A state championships. It will have to battle the crowd. Hilmer and Wilson, last year’s state runners-up and the No. 2 seed this year, advanced to today’s semifinals by winning three matches Friday at the Tualatin Hills Tennis Center in Beaverton. The site is where Jesuit plays most of its matches, so the Black Tornado tandem’s Crusader foes — Clare Dodge and Caroline Lilly — will feel right at home. "They’re going into basically the lion’s den," said North coach Dale Jensen. "The girls just have to push the crowd out of it and they should do fine." Advertisement Jesuit, Jensen said, has virtually locked up the team title with its army of talented players. The team Hilmer and Wilson are playing is the Crusaders’ No. 2 squad and is seeded fourth. Their No. 1 team, Courtney Lau and Meghan Madden, is seeded No. 3 and is in the other semifinal against last year’s state champions, Rebecca and Rachel Berger of Hermiston. North had the other top-performing local entity when the boys doubles team of David Longmire and Mike Tribble lost its first match, then won twice in the consolation round to get to today’s semifinals. On Friday, Hilmer and Wilson defeated Lakeridge’s Mindy Ehren and Jill Valdez, 6-2, 6-0; McMinnville’s Carrie McCann and Alex Tritten, 6-0, 6-1; and Churchill’s Carissa Lee and Stephanie Waples, 6-1, 6-2. Jensen praised the competition and was pleased that his duo got to see strong groundstrokers and solid net players. "All the matches were easy in terms of the scores," he said. "But they were tight, really. I thought the (North) girls played real aggressive. They had good serves, good volleys and approached the net well. "Our girls can do everything just a little better than everyone else." In its semifinal match today, the Tornado team faces young opposition. Dodge is a sophomore and Lilly a freshman. "Experience is going to be real important," said Jensen. "The (North) girls have been there three times. Experience will help our girls. They need to keep their heads together and play the kind of tennis they can play, then we’ll see what happens. It’ll be a good match. We can ‘t look past them." There’s no guarantee Hilmer and Wilson would face the defending champions in the finals. "Hermiston will have to work to beat them," said Jensen, "but the percentages, I’d have to give the nod to (Hermiston)." If the rematch does happen, it could be a different North team on the court. Hilmer and Wilson "would probably be the first to tell you they didn’t bring their best game to the match," said Jensen. "They made mistakes they normally don’t make. "They’ve got a really good attitude, and they’re more fit than they were last year. Last year, they were tired after the first day. Now (Friday), they want to go shopping." In other girls action, Ashland singles player Kayla Moyse was eliminated with a 6-4, 6-0 loss to top-seeded Yvette Ly of Centennial. South Medford freshman Sam Ruffe suffered the same fate in the championship second round, falling to Masha Los of Roseburg, 6-1, 6-2. In consolation play, Brianna Lescher of Ashland lost to Kristine Hoang of Gresham, 8-4. In doubles, North’s Sonia Aguilera and Erica Schultz lost their first match to Sheldon’s Erin Bruni and Jamie King, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. The Tornado then lost in the consolation round to Cleveland’s Lisa Buys and Lauren Collins, 9-8 (3). In the boys tournament at Portland Tennis Center — they move to Tualatin Hills today — Longmire and Tribble fought back. They lost to Grant’s Joe Hagen and Nick Ruess, the No. 3 seed, 6-2, 7-6 (3) in the first round. In consolation play, Longmire and Tribble beat Churchill’s Carl Brehm and Andrew Esterberg, 8-6, then defeated Newberg’s Tommy Stock and Tyler Brown, 8-3. The Ashland tandem of Cory Lescher and Miles Rooklyn downed Stock and Brown in the first round, 7-5, 6-3, then was eliminated by Walt James and Brent Kingzett of South Eugene, 6-0, 6-1. Another Grizzlies unit, Gabe Hoxmeier and Nick Spurlock, opened with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Lee Lenker and Daniel Becker of Sunset, then lost to Gresham’s Alberto Alarcon and Jeremy Montgomery, 8-3, in consolations. In consolation singles, Ashland’s Ross Mather won once, downing Nathaniel Jacobus of Redmond, 8-0, then fell to Mike Kingsley of Sheldon, 8-5. Ashland’s Kyle Lachmund was toppled by Lakeridge’s Todd Logan, 8-1, in the first consolation round. Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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