Tennis aims for seventh-straight title
Coming off its sixth-consecutive state championship, Mercer Island girls tennis has been about as close to automatic as a team can get. And yet, coach Mindy Blakeslee will be quick to say that as routine as winning may seem, it’s never easy.
“You could have the best players in the world and you’d still have to get out of our district, which is so hard,” Blakeslee said. “You kind of have to have all your cards fall in a row.”
But the cards have been falling in the Islanders’ favor, and expectations remain high among players and coaches as Mercer Island prepares to defend its 3A title.
Returning for Mercer Island are repeating 3A state doubles champions Gabby and Lydia Venditti, as well as one-half of last year’s state runner-up team, Caroline Hamilton. The Islanders also return varsity mainstays from last season Miji Suhr, Sammy and Sarah Sweet and senior Melanie Lee.
Between returning JV members looking to move up to varsity and incoming freshmen trying out who play year-round, depth shouldn’t be a problem for the Islanders.
Finding spots for a team loaded with talent is a good problem to have, as Blakeslee will attest. Mercer Island will need it, especially when considering the move of last year’s 4A champion Garfield into 3A competition.
Still, even in the early parts of the spring season, the Islanders maintain the mindset of pursuing another state championship.
“I think that’s always our goal since we have so much history in the program,” Blakeslee said. “We want to win KingCo, we want to win districts, we want to win state. But at the same time, I want to develop young athletes, I want to develop young ladies and I want to develop good students.”
Girls golf captains Molly White and Whitley Pearson (Joseph Livarchik/Staff Photo).
Girls golf looks to begin new streak
A common phrase girls golf coach Don Papasedero tells his players is “flush it and move on” after something doesn’t go their way on the course.
The team did just that last season after seeing its first team loss in nearly seven years, bouncing back by winning the KingCo tournament. And the Islanders maintain that mentality as they begin their 2015 season.
“We’re really just trying to have a new team,” senior captain Whitley Pearson said. “We have a bunch of new freshmen and they’re really good. There are a lot of fresh faces, so we’re just building on what we did in the past and what we’re going to do in the future.”
The roster of 14 features only three seniors and three juniors, which normally would spell growing pains for the upcoming year. But in a girls golf program that has consistently boasted team success year after year under Papasedero and right-hand man Tim Okamura, the Islanders aren’t looking at their youth that way.
“Coming off last year with breaking the streak, I’d say a lot of the pressure is off and I think that since we have so many young girls coming in, one might not expect us to be as good this year,” senior captain Molly White said.
The Islanders return 3A state singles champion Rachel Fujitani, but the captains still acknowledge getting big-match experience is something they can improve on as a team.
With the brand of partner golf they play, the Islanders believe they’ll be able to do so together.
“I know my partner last year was like my best friend,” Pearson said. “Our program is really a partner sport and a team sport, we all care about each other’s game.”
