9 Valley athletes qualify for state tennis tourney

PALMER — Brennan Easley and Lauren Leadbetter spent their summers on the tennis courts. Now, the Colony seniors are among nine Valley athletes who will hit the court Friday during the ASAA/First National Bank State Tennis Championships at Alaska Club East in Anchorage.

“Both played all summer long,” Colony coach Susan Brunner said. “You drive past the courts and you would see them with a bucket of balls practicing their serves.”

Easley and Leadbetter won a mixed doubles title during the Region III Championships last week in Anchorage, and enter state with an 18-0 record this season. The duo is among four Colony seniors who qualified for state. Maryssa Scarcello and Frank Urbano finished as the runner-up in the girls’ and boys’ singles divisions, and also qualified. Brunner said each of the four seniors have been with the program since it debuted in 2015. Brunner said the seniors represent just how much the overall level of play in the Colony program has improved.

“We feel like we’ve kind of dialed it in,” Brunner said. “The last two years we worked a lot on fundamentals. We feel like we’re able to work on skill and strategy.”

The seniors have reached another level, Brunner said.

Brunner is also excited about a pair of freshmen, Kaden Ketchum and Andrew Svoboda, who earned the Region III boys’ doubles title, and qualified for state.

“We feel as coaches, we kind of lucked out with them,” Brunner said.

Brunner said the Colony coaching staff is excited about the chance to continue to work with Ketchum and Svoboda for the next three years.

Palmer, which saw a spike in participation this year, is sending three players to the state meet, which continues Saturday. Shiho Hatanaka earned a region title in the girls’ singles class. Jina Malone and Breanna Jensen combined for a runner-up finish in the girls’ doubles class. This is the first time Palmer is sending more than one athlete to the state meet. Former Palmer player Johnnie Burton qualified in both 2015 and 2016.

Matches begin both Friday and Saturday at 8 a.m. at Alaska Club East, located off Tudor Road in Anchorage.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.