Aberdeen’s Knutson, Ritter advance to district meet
Published 1:30 am Thursday, May 7, 2026
TUMWATER–Two Aberdeen tennis players advanced to the district meet after placing at the 2A Evergreen Championships Monday through Wednesday in Tumwater.
Leading the way was standout junior and the Bobcats’ top singles player Sophie Knutson, who won her first two matches to advance to the singles championship match.
In the final, Knutson won the first set 7-5 over W.F. West’s Elizabeth Mittge but dropped the final two sets 6-0 and 6-4 to place second in the conference.
Aberdeen No. 2 singles player Kensie Ervin went 1-1 before being matched up against teammate and No. 3 singles player Madi Ritter, who suffered her first loss of the season 6-2, 6-0 to Mittge in her second match of the tournament.
Ritter bested her Bobcats teammate 6-1, 6-4 before advancing two win two more matches to place third overall after entering the meet unseeded.
“Aberdeen had a great showing at the tournament this week. We are proud to take two on to Districts,” Aberdeen head coach Ashley Kohlmeier said. “Aberdeen singles played great over three, long days of tennis. As expected, Sophie ended up playing a marathon against the No. 1 from W.F. West, which has been the norm each time they faced each other in the regular season. Sophie played great and battled hard through three tough sets. I know she’s disappointed in the result, but ready to put up a fight next week at Districts. It was unfortunate that Madi and Kensie got to a point where they had to play each other in a loser-out match. Kenise has had a great season and has been a sure thing for us at Singles No. 2. She played a great tournament and will be back at the top of our ladder next season. Madi Ritter was definitely the shock of the tournament, at least for her opponents. She has a powerful, punishing game style. Over these three days, she has played the best tennis I have seen from her in four years on the team. As she heads to the district tournament as the No. 3 seed, she’s playing great and with well-earned confidence.”
All three Bobcats doubles teams were eliminated from postseason play.
The district meet is scheduled for Friday-Saturday, May 15-16 at the Mint Valley Tennis Center in Longview.
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Singles
Sophie Knutson (No. 2 seed)
Match 1: Knutson (Aberdeen) defeated Binder (Tumwater) 6-0, 6-0.
Match 2: Knutson (A) def. Henderson (T) 6-0, 6-0.
League Championship: Elizabeth Mittge (W.F. West) def. Knutson (A) 5-7, 6-0, 6-4.
Kensie Ervin (No. 4)
Match 1: Ervin (A) def. Voetberg (Centralia) 6-4, 6-0.
Match 2: Beaulieu (Black Hills) def. Ervin (A) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
Match 3: Ritter (A) def. Ervin (A) 6-1, 6-4.
Madi Ritter (unseeded)
Match 1: Ritter (A) def. Chang (T) 6-3, 6-0.
Match 2: Mittge (WFW) def. Ritter (A) 6-2, 6-0.
Match 3: Ritter (A) def. Ervin (A) 6-1, 6-4.
Match 4: Ritter (A) def. Henderson (T) 6-1, 6-4.
Third-place match: Ritter (A) def. Casimiro (WFW) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Doubles
Haywood/Rookridge (Centralia) defeated Alvarenga/Fuquay (Aberdeen) 6-0, 6-0.
Parker/Sanders (Tumwater) def. Frye/Sullivan (A) 6-4, 6-2.
Sawyer/Durr (No. 3) def. Gorski/Parascand (Black Hills) 6-1, 6,0
Sparks/Mordick (WFW) def. Sawyer/Durr (A) 7-5, 6-0.
Parker/Sanders def. Sawyer/Durr (A) 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.
