Crimson Bears ‘mix it up’ for tennis state championship

Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé senior Alex Rehfeldt angled a forehand smash to the side of the Anchorage Alaska Club East court, forcing Chugiak High School senior Jack Latteier to return the shot up the middle, and Crimson Bears classmate Milina Mazon put championship point down the middle past Chugiak senior Meadow Lewis for the 2024 Alaska Tennis Mixed Doubles State Championship on Saturday.

“That’s how you play doubles,” Rehfeldt said. “Feels great. Had a blast. Key was just targeting their weaknesses, playing strong and keeping our heads in the right space.”

Tennis is all about teamwork, and the Crimson Bears exhibited that to perfection during a weekend of action at the 2024 ASAA State Tennis Championships at Anchorage’s Alaska Club.

“I’m excited,” Mazon said. “Happy. We kept a positive attitude. We came back from losing that first game, but kept our heads up to stay in the match.”

The JDHS pair had gone undefeated until the first final and fell to Chugiak 6-4, 2-6, 0-1 (4-10) forcing an “if necessary” match for the title. And that match went 4-2 JDHS, 4-1 CHS and required an extra game to 10 points, in which the Crimson Bears prevailed 10-7.

“It is a matter of the team coming together,” JDHS assistant coach Mona Mametsuka said of what makes a state tournament successful. “And being unified as a group, which is what our team did. They were so supportive of one another leading into the tournament and all throughout the tournament, just being there for one another. Just building that camaraderie, building lifetime memories together.”

In what is considered one of the most difficult disciplines, JDHS junior Elliot Welch battled to third place in boys singles.

“My mindset was just to play as good as I can practically,” Welch said. “I knew the top three, we were all really close so I just knew I had to play well and do my best.”

Among the top three boys at the venue, Welch would be tasked with the top two high school seniors in Alaska, West Anchorage’s Jude Cebrian and Service’s Ulysses Escobar. With four years of varsity experience, a life of club tennis and court time year around, they are tough opponents.

Welch defeated Lathrop senior James Peng 6-0, 6-0 on Thursday. On Friday, he lost his first game against Cebrian 4-6 but won the second 6-2, forcing a third set tiebreaker to 10, which he won 10-3 to advance to the Friday semifinal. In the semi, he played another tiebreaker against Service’s Escobar. After losing the opening game 4-6, Welch won the second 7-5, forcing an extra game to 10, which he lost 4-10.

Welch then had a rematch Saturday morning against Cebrian to earn a second shot into the title match and won the first game 4-2, but lost game two 4-1, yet again forcing a tie-breaker. Cebrian won that 10-2. Cebrian lost the state title match to Escobar 6-1, 6-4.

“It was tough,” Welch said of the third-place match. “Especially after playing Ulysses the previous night and then coming in this morning, that’s hard.”

Welch said he loses some of the edge during the summer and makes that up by playing head coach Austin Stefanich, and then will travel south just before the season starts to work out.

“That is how I kind of prepare for the season,” he said.

Welch also relies on his JDHS hockey play for training.

“I’m a lefty in hockey,” he said. “So my backhand is on my left side and so that helps my backhand be a lot stronger than most peoples’.”

When asked if he ever had the urge to crosscheck an opponent on the court, Welch laughed: “No, no, that is too much. It’s tennis.”

Welch is an aggressive hockey player, but notably mentally strong and composed on the tennis courts.

“It’s completely different,” he said. “Hockey, you’re in constant contact with everyone else and the other team as well. Tennis, you’re by yourself and you have to be really respectful to your opponent as well. Obviously they made it here, too, they are really good. I am proud of how I played here. And it is awesome to have the team we have here, they are awesome. I could not ask for anything better.”

The title path for Rehfeldt and Mazon started with a defeat of Lathrop senior Claire Eberhart and junior Howie Hilling 6-2, 6-4 on Thursday. On Friday, they defeated Eagle River sophomore Evan Dimmick and junior Anna Fasching 6-1, 6-1 in a quarterfinal, and West seniors Noah Marx and Lavina Li 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-4) in a semifinal to earn the Saturday play.

“I’m just having a lot of fun,” Rehfeldt said. “I usually just try to not take it too seriously because I mess myself up if I’m being non-casual and I’m really trying to go for my shots, I’m more likely to miss them. I try to stay in a kind of soft mental head space where I’m giving myself a lot of grace and just being really nice to myself and just having a lot of fun out there is really important.”

Rehfeldt would casually interact with fans during the match.

“I don’t appreciate loud noises in general so I do my best to silence them as much as possible,” he said. “And just try to keep it to a minimum because it does get to me.”

He described his role in mixed doubles as “being a male partner mostly. I’m nothing special honestly, but we work well together and we have fun playing. And it’s good team cohesion that is really the big thing. We get along.”

Four-year varsity player Mazon said, “Tennis is fun and it is just fun to compete and come all the way here from Juneau. I love competition. We work well together. I contribute a lot of speed. It is fun to have Alex as a partner. We get along. We play together very well. My advice to future players is you just have to keep your head up, you are never out of the game. We came from losing our first set, to winning the second and then winning the tiebreaker.”

JDHS junior Isabella Reyes-Boyer and sophomore Aurora Madsen opened state play with a Thursday girls doubles win over North Pole juniors Izzy Jones and Melanie Robles 6-2, 6-2.

On Friday, they lost to Chugiak juniors Mary Jo Landon and Timber Fleischhacker (eventual state champs) 6-1, 6-4 and then were eliminated by Lathrop junior Marais Anderson and senior Valentina Krejci 5-5, 4-2.

“I think our pairing is kind of special because I have a pretty aggressive net game and I think my partner Aurora is really amazing at always hitting the ball in,” Reyes-Boyer said. “She is really good at keeping it consistent. I am a little more erratic. It’s really a good combination. We work pretty well together. State means we put in a lot of work and we put in a lot of effort.”

Reyes-Boyer and Madsen were awarded the ACE Tennis Scholarship to the Juneau Racquet Club (JRC) earlier this year.

“We worked really hard and we’ve been practicing on and off the courts,” Reyes-Boyer said. “It is really just a lot of hard dedication by us and the coaches. We’re all really hard-working people and this really means a lot to be up here.”

Madsen agrees with her partner.

“We make a good team,” she said. “I think I’m a little stronger at the baseline and Bella is really great at the net so we work really well in tennis. Also Bella is really great at keeping me positive and keeping my head in the game which I think is really important in a doubles team, more than just what shots you are good at as well.”

Both said the competition was inspiring.

“It is nice to test our skills and see what we have been working for,” Madsen said. “We’ve both been playing for about a year so it is really nice to see some of the hard work pay off.”

Reyes-Boyer said her advice to interested players is “go to your local JRC and talk to Mona and Austin and Annie…if you really want to start playing tennis, just pick up a racquet and with enough dedication and hard work you can get there. It really pays off in the end and everyone is capable of being amazing.”

The JDHS boys doubles team of seniors Taliesin Paul and Kajson Cunningham, both first-time players at state, lost to Palmer seniors Tom Chevalier and Austin Heredia 6-1, 6-1 Thursday morning and then were eliminated by Dimond seniors Todd Debenham and Andrew Rueckert 4-0, 4-0. West Valley seniors Logan and Jakan Reinheller won the title.

“I’m pretty glad about being at state,” Paul, a four-year varsity player, said. “I hadn’t gone to state before and hadn’t really traveled at all for tennis so it is nice to be able to do that for my last year. I’m not a huge competition person in general so this is kind of out of my element to some extent. It is pretty fun and I’m glad I was able to come. Ever since I got here in Anchorage, I haven’t been feeling well but I really tried my best. First match I think I was a little tired. Overall I really tried my best and put everything I could out there and I was pretty happy about it.”

Paul had advice for youth wanting to try tennis.

“Just stick with it,” he said. “If you want to start, just keep going no matter what and have fun. Being part of a team makes it fun. You can cheer each other on and support each other…but there is also something about just hitting a ball.”

Cunningham thought state was fun, “but we didn’t get the best start. We didn’t play our best matches. Everything felt a little different. This is the first time I have been at state so the nerves were there definitely. I was glad I was able to come here. Definitely the first match was different because the only people I have played against were from Juneau, that’s the only people I have ever played against. And then coming here it was different playing against other high schoolers and definitely the nerves got to me on that first set and we let them take it.”

Cunningham has played soccer his whole life and began cheerleading in high school. His beginning with tennis started this season.

“I was playing pickleball one night and then they kicked us out because they had tennis practice,” he said. “Then I was like, ‘I’m going to join tennis.’ And then I joined and worked a lot of hours outside of practice so I could make it to state… I think tennis is fun. I’ve been playing sports my whole life and just started racket sports this year and it’s something new to me, I think the new experience is what makes it fun for me.”

JDHS sophomore Riley Dale lost her opening match against Lathrop senior Maya Scanlon 6-1, 6-1 on Thursday and was eliminated later in the day by Bartlett senior Syriana Allbritton 5-3, 4-1. Colony junior Jan Chongkavinit won the title.

“This has been pretty fun,” Dale said. “It’s my first year here. Everyone is super nice, the brackets are set up nice. I like it…I feel like I played well. I definitely could have studied my opponents a little better and learned their weaker shots and stuff. It is hard when you haven’t seen them before and you only get five minutes of warm-up. It’s a bit challenging.”

Dale’s start in tennis began when she joined friends in a private lesson.

“And then we just all joined the tennis team,” she said. “There are amazing coaches in Juneau and it is a super fun program and you learn a lot.”

JDHS head coach Austin Stefanich said being successful at state “is making sure our kids are prepared and have all the tools, both mentally and physically, before they get here. They absolutely played well. Being at state is always tough but I think our kids have the ability to really just mentally stay in the game and they were able to do it.”

JDHS also took third place as a team.

“Our kids did great,” assistant coach Anne Kincheloe said. “They fought hard for every point. I’m proud of all of their efforts.”

• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@juneauempire.com.