In girl's tennis, the Ballard Beavers lost to Skyline 8-1 on April 18 with Kiana Kobayashi winning her match for the team's only point.

During the first half of the season, Ballard has been dealing with illnesses among the players. The Skyline match was the first this year with all the girls healthy.

Ballard is 1 and 6 for the season. They beat Franklin and lost to Lake Washington, Eastlake, Bothell, Woodinville, Garfield in addition to Skyline.

Head Coach Tony Richardson said the record is not indicative of his team's tennis abilities and hopes to win four of its remaining matches.

Kobayashi, the number four player, is rising talent for Ballard. She has a variety of shots in her game. "She slices one shot, then hits a high shot and then a regular flat shot," said Richardson.

Bothell's Marissa Hackett found Kobayashi too much to handle in a 6-4, 6-3 loss. Franklin's Victoria Young was no match for Kobayahsi in a 6-1, 6-1 defeat.

Mikaela Louie has also come on strong. "She sets up her serve real well," said Richardson.

Louie won a recent challenge match against teammate Natasha Keller to earn the number two singles spot. Louie beat Bothell's Jill Barlow 6-2, 6-2. The very next week Louie prevailed over Franklin's Jessica Young by the same scores.

"Louie and Kobayashi have been playing outstanding tennis," said Richardson.

The team's number one seed, Neah Ortman beat Kajori Ahmed 6-2 and 6-2 in the Bothell matchup.

Richardson expects at least one singles player to make it to the KingCo Tournament.

Ballard is having more success with its doubles teams.

Two teams: Louie and Ortman; Keller and Bebe Besch are contending for KingCo. A third team could also make it.

The doubles team of Erin Baumler and Lucy Goodwin beat Bothell's Caitlin Caldwell and Jessica Parker with scores of 2-6, 6-1 and 7-5.

Ballard's doubles teams domianted Franklin. The teams of: Louie and Ortman; Kobayashi and Schildkraut; and Erika Freiderich and Kim Kuo all notched wins.

In the Garfield game, the Bulldogs beat Ballard 8-1. Louie, Ortman, Kobayashi, Bebe Besch and Goodwin all lost their singles matches.

Schooley was the lone bright spot, beating her Bulldog opponent Amber Sims, 2-6, 6-3 and 4-4. The match ended up in an injury default by Sims.

Ballard has matches left with Redmond at Lower Woodland on April 27 and at Juanita on May 2.

KingCo Singles will take place at the NTC (Nordstrom Tennis Center) on May 9 and 10. Doubles are at NTC on May 16 and 17.