Sherman tennis offers bright glimpse to future

Webb scored a three-set marathon win over Belshe, coming back from a 3-6 loss in the opener, with wins of 6-1 and 6-2 in the last two sets.

Two weeks ago in Kennewick, Wash., Belshe, a No. 3 seed, defeated Amanda Carrillo, of Stanfield, in straight sets by scores of 6-1 and 6-4, and then she dominated Gema Juarez, of Riverside, 6-4, 6-2 to vault into the semifinals.

In that match, Belshe hit the court against the No. 2 seed, Mac-Hi’s Elise Griffith, in a three-set showdown.

Griffith won the opening set by a 6-3 margin, but Belshe quickly turned the tables in the second set with a 6-3 win of her own to send the match into a decisive third set.

Belshe was in cruise control from there, picking up a 6-2 third-set victory to move into a final match against Webb.

Against Webb, Belshe won 6-3 and 6-2.

Another Sherman highlight came off the rackets of Hollee Kaseberg and Elvia Rubio, who placed fourth overall in the sub-district tournament as a No. 4 seed.

Kaseberg and Rubio dropped their Riverside opponents by scores of 6-0 and 6-3 to move into the quarterfinals where they squared off with the No. 5 seeded team, out of Weston-McEwen.

Kaseberg and Rubio won the opening set by a 7-5 margin, and then moved into the semifinals after a 6-3 second-set win.

They were defeated by the No. 1-seeded Chavez sisters, from Stanfield.

Then they lost to the Mac-Hi team of Rodriguez and Cuellar. C.J. Johnson and Savannah Moe won their first match of the tournament in their first-ever sub-district trip, by scores of 6-3 and 6-4 over their Ione opponents, but then fell to the No. 2 seeds, Rodriguez and Cuellar, in three tough sets.

Rodriguez and Cuellar won the first set 7-6 on a tiebreaker, but then Johnson and Moe rebounded for a 6-1 win to send the match into a third-set tiebreaker round.

The Mac-Hi duo was finally able to outlast Johnson and Moe by a 6-2 margin in the third set.

“I'm so proud of these girls, they battled hard and this result should not take away from their season,” Rolfe said. “These three made it further than any other 1A school in our region.”

For the boys players, Hunter Kaseberg and Senior Carlos Ambriz came out on top in their first match against their Weston-McEwen opponent in two sets, 6-2 and 6-1.

They wound up on the losing end against their Ione opponents in a second-round contest.

First-year player, Luke Lawrence, a senior, won his first singles match against an Ione player by a 6-3, 6-2 edge to move on.

He could not keep the momentum going, however, as he lost 3-6, 6-7, the second set on a tiebreaker.

“I’m so thankful for what I was able to achieve in my first tennis season and so glad that Carlos and I came out,” Lawrence said. “I’m excited to see how Gabby (Rubio), Amy (Dabulskis), C.J. and Savannah do next year after they all improved so much this year. I think it shows that you can achieve anything you want through hard work.”

Seniors Garak Casper and Colten Busler played strong against their Mac-Hi opponents in the opening round, but wound up losing 5-7, 1-6 to end their season.

Rubio, a freshman, lost in the first round of her girls’ match 4-8 in a close pro-set match, and Dabulskis lost her first-round match by a 3-8 tally.