Tennis District Champions: Ben Silber and Zaid Khan, Shorecrest

Coach Rob Mann, Ben Silber, Zaid Khan,
Assistant Coach Cameron McDowell

Correction: The duo have been nominated for Player of the Week. The award has not been decided.

District Champions: Ben Silber and Zaid Khan, Shorecrest

Ben Silber and Zaid Khan had another stellar outing at the WesCo 3A District Tournament at Arlington High School on October 29th and October 30th.

Zaid Khan and Ben Silber at District tournament

In their first match they faced Ben Nichols and Keaton McBride from Arlington, who both had really big serves.

The Shorecrest duo had trouble breaking Arlington the first few games, but they eventually found a way with consistent returns and groundstrokes.

Arlington kept finding a way to hang on, but the Shorecrest duo finally pulled away, winning the match 6-2, 6-3.

Zaid Khan

In the semi-finals Ben and Zaid faced Aaron Robertson and Grant Mueller from Everett.

The Everett players did a great job taking the net and using their quick reflexes and soft hands to win many points.

However, it wasn’t enough and Shorecrest was able to prevail in first set 6-4.

Ben and Zaid made some adjustments for the second set and dominated Everett 6-0.

In the finals, the Shorecrest duo faced Shintaro Wilcox and Preston Pierce from Stanwood. The players from Stanwood were the most athletic and scrappy players that Shorecrest has faced this year.

The Stanwood players were aggressive net players who put balls away at the net and tracked down ball after ball that looked like winning shots for Shorecrest.

The nerves got to the Shorecrest players in the beginning of the set and they found themselves quickly down 1-5, but luckily they found their rhythm in the next game and broke Stanwood’s serve to bring the set score to 2-5. Both Ben and Zaid relaxed and kept the streak going to win six games in a row to take the first set 7-5.

Ben Silber at District tournament

Shorecrest carried that momentum into the second set dominating their opponents 6-1 with passing shots and put away volleys.

The Shorecrest duo qualified for the State Tournament at Kamiakin High School, but will have a long wait since the tournament doesn’t start until May 22nd.

--Coach Rob Mann

Updated story with better photos. Corrected reference to player of the week - it was a nomination.