Saturday was a big day for Union’s Nicole Knudtson and Miriam Muntean.
It was prom day.
But before the music started Saturday night, the Union doubles teammates had some work to do during the day at Vancouver Tennis Center.
Knudtson and Muntean earned two more straight-set wins, the latter a 6-2, 6-2 win over Union teammates Rachel Kinkley and Marina Morningstar, to capture the 4A district doubles title.
“We’re really looking forward to going to state,” said Knudtson, a senior. “I don’t want to jinx it. But there are a lot of berths coming out of the (bi-district tournament), so we feel really good.”
The top three singles and doubles entries for the 4A district tournament advanced to next weekend’s bi-district tournament in Kent.
“We went up to Olympia for an invitational a couple of weeks ago, and we played some of the same teams we’ll face (next weekend),” said Muntean, a junior. “It was really fun, and we played really well there.”
Playing together as doubles partners is partly new and old for Knudtson and Muntean.
During the league season, Muntean played singles to best help the Titans win matches. But the plan all along was for the duo to reunite for doubles in the postseason.
“It’s perfect,” Knudston said. “It’s almost effortless for us. We did practice a lot together during the season. We just flow well together.”
Camas’ Tionni Trieu and Angela Xu rallied all the way through the consolation bracket to finish third and earn a bi-district berth.
Winning the district singles title was the plan all along for Skyview freshman Leilani Gonzalez.
Gonzalez went undefeated during the regular season and dropped just one game in her first two matches at district.
She had to work a little harder in the title match to beat Camas freshman Jace Moriki 6-3, 6-2.
“It was a lot harder that what the score shows,” Gonzalez said. “We had a lot of deuces and long rallies. … My plan was to just keep the ball in play, don’t try to do too much, and let her make the mistakes.”
The patient strategy worked against Moriki, the No. 6 seed who knocked off the Nos. 3 and 2 seeds on her way to the final.
“She played really well,” Gonzalez said. “She should be proud.”
Joining Gonzalez and Moriki at bi-districts next week is Skyview’s Marissa Hunter, who placed third.
