Cedar Rapids Washington duo make state tournament

MARION — For Lily Belle Barker and Samantha Becker, the wait has been unfortunately long for different reasons.

Both Cedar Rapids Washington seniors have been state qualifiers in the past, but neither has ever touched the court at state.

"It feels great to finally be able to play," Barker said minutes after the Wash duo won by injury default over Linn-Mar's Reagan Boies and Anna Schlesinger in the Class 2A regional final match at the Oak Ridge Middle School Tennis Complex. "We ended on a high note today, so we are just excited to continue."

Barker's case was much publicized during her first two years. She is also a member of the golf team and when tennis was played in the spring, the dates for state play in both sports overlapped. The Washington golf program is among the state's best, so golf was her choice in 2023 and 2024.

Injuries have kept Becker out of state. She qualified as a sophomore, only to suffer a torn meniscus between regionals and state. Last year, she injured the knee again and was unable to play in the regionals.

"This will finally be the first time for both of us," Becker said. "We've been through a lot and it will finally be great to be able to play at state.

"This is the second year I have played doubles with her," she continued. "We have our ups and downs, but it has been a lot of fun."

Washington Coach Sam Koeppl said Barker and Becker had a plan from the first day of practice.

"Right at the start of the year they both came to me and said we want to do this," he said in reference to making the state doubles tournament. "We've known for the entire season that this was the way we were going to go. They are 10-2 on the year and it was awesome to see it all come to fruition today."

There was also an injury default in singles. Liberty's Vivian Kahler was the top seed and she earned a return trip to state, winning the final when her Lightning teammate Addie Bollier was feeling ill after outlasting Linn-Mar's Gabby Erickson in a long semifinal match, 6-3, 7-5.

"This was a goal we had all season," said Liberty Coach Jake Binggeli about getting both of his players to state in singles. "We knew that with the move to fall, it was going to be a challenge, especially for Addie who also plays volleyball.

  Buy Photo

Binggeli said it was big for Bollier to not have to go to a third set as she was beginning to feel the effects of the warm conditions on the court.

"We talked about that during one of the changeovers," said the Liberty coach. "She is a phenomenal athlete and she didn't get to play with us much during the regular season because of volleyball but she came through here in the clutch and will get to play at state."

All regional champions and runner-up advance to the state tournament, set for Oct. 1-2. Class 1A teams will play at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex in Iowa City. The Class 2A meet will be at Byrnes Park in Waterloo.

In other 2A regional play on Wednesday, Cedar Rapids Jefferson senior Lily Holland earned a fourth consecutive state singles berth, rolling to the title at West Des Moines Valley.

Holland did not drop a game in her three matches, culminating with a 6-0, 6-0 triumph over Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln's Tori Hansen in the final.

At Iowa City, West sophomore Iris Vasi advanced to state. She lost by injury default in the final to Clinton's Elizabeth Grinnall. Juniors Sophia Singh and Grace Wang also advanced to state in doubles. They lost in the final to Pleasant Valley's Kaj Kabongo and Grace Hall, 6-0, 6-1.

In Class 1A, play at Grinnell was delayed by weather and will be completed tomorrow, beginning at 9 a.m. Xavier's Gabi Fleming won her first two matches and was in the semifinals as was the Saints top doubles team of Tia Halibi and Gemma Younadam. At Decorah, the Vikings sister duo of Olivia and Grace Huniker were in the doubles semifinals while senior Kaitlyn Bjork was in the singles semifinal.

Play at Decorah also was delayed until 9 a.m. tomorrow due to rain.