A trio of Inglemoor High girls tennis players beat the heat at the 4A KingCo championships to advance to the state tournament.

Earlier this month in mid-80-degree temperatures, sophomore Brooke Demerath snagged the singles title and the freshman-junior doubles squad of Alyssa Chinn and Milan Mar notched second in a grueling, four-and-a-half-hour match at the Edgebrook Club in Bellevue. All three netters will continue their spring tennis journey at state May 24-25 in Richland.

Demerath went 4-0 at KingCo and defeated her friend and training partner Matilde Varas of Eastlake, 6-4, 7-5, in the final.

“That was a really fun match because it was so close and it was always going back and forth, and there was a lot of pressure in the points,” said Demerath, who last year finished second at KingCo and fifth at state.

During change-overs during the final, Demerath said the girls would share a laugh over a look one of them fired the other’s way when the ball was in play.

Demerath’s forehand and backhand have been on target this season.

“I can step in and hit them hard easily. It’s what I train to do all the time and so I’m very comfortable with it,” she said.

In the second-place doubles match, the Viking duo beat the top seed from Newport, 7-6, 3-6, 7-6. Before that match, Chinn and Mar played a contest that lasted one and a half hours.

“We were on the court like six hours,” Mar said with a laugh. “We both support each other. One of the reasons why it was so long, ‘cause we took so much time in between each point to cheer each other up. We wanted to bring out the best in each other.”

Chinn and Mar performed well on the singles front this season, and chose to team up to kick up a racquet in the doubles realm. The duo has known each other for awhile, and therefore, they interlock well at doubles, Mar said. They’ve played junior tennis and traveled together along with Demerath and Mar’s brother.

“We’re all very close,” Mar said.

Chinn said that although they had already qualified for state before their last match, she and Mar had motivation on their side to earn the second-place spot. They went all out for a solid result, she added.

“I think there was both ups and downs in our match, it was just kind of crazy. Every switch-over, we would pop open this umbrella to cool down. We somehow got through it and thankfully, we got the W instead of the L,” Chinn said with a smile.

As year-round tennis player Demerath glances over at her teammates, she noted the she enjoys interacting with the girls on the Viking squad and traveling to matches with them.

“Getting to cheer everyone on and see the team win as a whole is really fun,” Demerath said.