The girls tennis teams from North Thurston High School and Timberline met on April 23, 2025, with the Rams winning the match 3-2 in 3A WIAA PSL (Puget Sound League) play. The win was the first for the season for North Thurston (1-6).
North Thurston head coach Mikki Matson was thrilled with the work of her team and the first victory of the season. “Our team is full of the most coachable, kind and hard-working athletes and everyone on the team is genuinely so fun to coach, and we love watching all of them grow,” stated Matson. “Our coaching philosophy is very holistic. Something we focus on is growth, progress and goal setting. This is all to instill the love of tennis and give them the best experience on a high school team.”
Timberline (0-7) will look for its first PSL victory moving forward when it hosts a match against Capital (2-4) on Thursday.
Alliniece Andino, head coach for Timberline, spoke positively about her team and how they support each other. “My team is great and they all authentically enjoy each other,” Andiono noted. “Something I think is great about the team is each returning player has skills to improve upon, and they have definitely been listening to us as coaches, and have put in the effort to improve their skills and achieve a competitive edge. We try to teach each player to work hard, be optimistic, and make sure the other competitor beats you, and don’t just sit back and lose.”
North Thurston has one of the bigger teams in the league with about 40 athletes. “We’ve grown tremendously since my first season as head coach in 2023 when we had 13 athletes. Last year we had around 25 on the team, and this season we have 40,” stated Matson.
