Tennis preview: Depth gives University girls shot at repeat Greater Spokane League championship

A future Whitworth Pirate and Junior Olympian racquetball twins have set expectations high again for the University Titans, who are coming off a dominant Greater Spokane League girls tennis title last season.

The Titans played their way to an undefeated regular season in 2017, going 10-0 overall and 9-0 in the GSL while losing only eight individual sets out of 70.

Head coach Julene Osborn is now in her 15th season with the Titans, winning the league twice and regionals once.

Osborn and U-Hi lost two first-team all-GSL players from last season’s perfect squad, Shaunay Garcia and Micki Thies. But the Titans are not short on talent.

“I have a group of really hard-working girls and we’re excited to see how we do this season,” Osborn said.

To pick up where last season left off, Osborn and the Titans will lean on first-team all-GSL senior Katie Smithgall, who has committed to Whitworth.

Smithgall is the prototypical high school star athlete. She works on her craft year-round, setting up shop in the Spokane Club during the months when the outdoor tennis courts are shielded with snow.

She practices her backhands and forehands against Taylor Bedilion, a pro tennis player and former Santa Clara Bronco, where he was an all-West Coast Conference player. Bedilion finished ranked No. 3 at Santa Clara in career singles victories.

It all stokes the burning passion that is tennis for Smithgall.

But surprisingly, it has only been a part of her life since middle school.

It wasn’t until after her freshman year that she gave up soccer to focus on tennis and that decision has proved to be fruitful.

Two all-GSL first-team honors later, Smithgall is the driving force behind the Titans’ tennis success.

Playing in club tennis tournaments has set her up nicely as a go-to resource for her teammates.

“I think leadership is important,” Smithgall said. “I practice with club players a lot, so it is a completely different ballgame when you head out to high school tennis.”

Teaching resolve, even when the bounces aren’t going your way, is an important lesson to learn even for veteran players.

“A mental mindset is important in tennis,” Smithgall said. “Being able to lift yourself up also.”

As for her commitment to Whitworth, she couldn’t be more eager to go there and prolong her tennis career.

“That is my dream school,” Smithgall said. “I am so excited to go there and not only go there, but go there to play tennis, which is the sport I love.”

Titans sophomores Megan and Hannah Carver are looking to make an impact in a racquet sport that actually involves a net.

The twins have shown they have the ability to take the international racquetball community by storm.

Their next challenge is to see how successful they can be with a yellow (green?) fuzzy ball instead of a pure rubber ball.

With playing careers that span almost 15 years, the Carvers have traveled all over the world, including trips to Brazil and Columbia. They wear uniforms splashed in red, white and blue to represent their country on the Junior Olympics team.

“It is really kind of mind-blowing,” Megan said. “You go to the world championships and you’re wearing ‘USA’ all over. It’s cool because we get to meet people from all different countries and make friends from different places and that is the best part about it.”

Bouncing between tennis and racquetball seems easy enough. Both sports require hitting a ball with a racquet and both require quick-twitch movements.

But both siblings have struggled with the unique swings each sport entails.

“At first, it was really difficult because I had to totally transform my swing,” Hannah said. “I think with my hand-eye coordination from racquetball, I picked it up fast.”

That coordination seems to be the key.

“The swings are very different and it is kind of hard to go back and forth at times, but the hand-eye coordination is still there,” Megan said.

Osborn sees how racquetball has provided them with skills other players take months, even years to acquire.

“It translates really well for things like anticipation and where the ball is going to go,” Osborn said. “They are really smart players. Some things that take normal tennis player years to figure out, they already have it down because of racquetball.”

Megan joined the tennis team in seventh grade, but hip surgery sidelined Hannah that year and forced her to focus on returning to the racquetball court.

“I had to watch Megan all the time in tournament and nationals, and that was really hard for me because I couldn’t compete,” Hannah said. “During physical therapy, I was so motivated to get back playing and back into shape that I got cleared two months before I was supposed to.”

That determination has led Hannah to the Titans’ varsity tennis team in three short months.

“I have already improved in the last month since school tennis started, and I know just by how much I am improving, I am going to be pretty good and I want to be the best I can be,” Hannah said.

They both have their dad to thank for getting them into racquetball and helping them become Junior Olympians. But in typical dad fashion, he still doesn’t let his kids beat him, at least not too often.

“(I win) a little bit, sometimes,” Hannah said. “He is just so much faster and smarter than any of the other girls I play, so it is tough.”

With the season in full swing, the Carvers want to be a part of another GSL title-winning squad.

“We are one of the best teams out there right now, so I hope we can stick with it and take the GSL again,” Hannah said.