Young claims first league championship

By MARY BETH BISHOP Staff Writer
WAILEA — In their final Maui Interscholastic League match, two of the county’s best tennis players met for the league’s top prize.

Seniors Luke Young of St. Anthony High School and Peter Meyer of Seabury Hall had already been through long semifinal matches by the time they faced each other in the MIL final on Wailea Tennis Club’s center court, but that didn’t lessen the desire to be champion.

In the end, it was Young who walked away with a 6-2, 6-3 win and his first MIL individual title.

‘‘The match was a lot harder than 6-2, 6-3,’’ Young said. ‘‘We were going to deuce and the heat made it a lot more difficult. We both had three-set matches before, so that kind of took its toll on us also.

‘‘(It feels) good, finally — it took me four years. I’m glad to finally be number one in the MIL.’’

Earlier in the day, Young faced freshman teammate Kento Tanaka-Tamaki in the semifinals, and rallied for 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory.

‘‘Kento, that was probably the best he’s played against me and I’ve been down against him a lot,’’ Young said. ‘‘He usually comes out a lot stronger than I do — so I wasn’t that worried in the first set but I started to get worried in the second. But I won the second and then the third set was pretty difficult and pretty long, too — we had a lot of games that were going for a long time.’’

Lahainaluna’s Jackie Owens overcame a sore arm to claim her third straight MIL singles title with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Kamehameha Maui’s Katie Perryman.

‘‘I just tried to play through it, because I wasn’t able to play my game,’’ said Owens, who first defeated Baldwin’s Kerrie Ann Tobita 6-0, 6-1 in the semifinals.

‘‘It was really hard for me to hit some shots, but I fought to try to pull it off and I did.’’

Owens took third at the state tournament last season.

‘‘I just really want to play my game — last year, I played my game at states and it really took me far, so I just want to do the best that I can do,’’ she said.

The doubles champions were all first-time titleholders — Baldwin boys Corey Russell and Michael Saiki, and Maui High girls Briana Feliciano and Michelle Soga.

Russell and Saiki, playing their first season together as a doubles pair, defeated Maui High’s Austin Wines and Jo Salamack 6-4, 6-4 in the final.

‘‘I worked hard for three years — last year I placed third — and it feels like, if you ever wanted something more than anything and did all you could to achieve it and getting it — it’s the greatest feeling in the world,’’ said Saiki, a junior in his second season with the Bears.

Said Russell: ‘‘It just feels really good — I don’t know, it’s kind of indescribable. I owe it all to (Michael).’’

Russell and Saiki beat Maui High’s Jesse Knight and Paulo Mallari 6-0, 7-6 (3) in the semifinals before facing another Sabers tandem.

Feliciano and Soga won the title by defeating Lahainaluna’s Kaila Nip and Celine Munoz 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3) in one of the longest matches of the day.

‘‘I was pretty confident but when we lost a few games, I was like, ‘That’s OK, we’ll get it right back,’ ’’ Feliciano said. ‘‘I think me and Michelle are a really strong team and hopefully we go really far at states. I hope it’s a good outcome.’’

Soga seemed as excited about going to the state tournament as the league championship.

‘‘It’s like a dream come true. I never would have expected it,’’ said Soga, who didn’t lose a match all season. ‘‘I’m very happy. My brother and my sister went to states, so I have to carry the family name, I guess.’’

‘‘I’m going to brag to her about it,’’ she added with a laugh.

Soga and Feliciano defeated King Kekaulike’s Mattie Ross and Alex Riecke-Gonzales 6-1, 6-1 in the semifinals.

The athletes also noted that the locations of the MIL championships were ideal and they appreciated the efforts of the Wailea and Makena tennis clubs in making it happen.

‘‘I like playing at Wailea — it’s one of my favorite places to play,’’ said Young, who played all his matches at the club. ‘‘Coming from Paia, it’s really windy over there, but having no wind, I really like it and it helps me play good.

‘‘I really like this place — they have a lot of courts, helps it run smoothly.’’