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Dale, Madsen play into tennis state championship match
Crimson Bears tennis team competes well in season finale at Anchorage
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé seniors Riley Dale and Aurora Madsen swept their way into the girls doubles finals of the 2026 ASAA Alaska Tennis State Championships on Saturday at Anchorage’s Alaska Club East.
“Aurora and Riley came into the tournament with confidence,” JDHS head coach Austin Stefanich said. “They had been here before, knew what it felt like to be on the court and were determined to play their best. They were the top seed in the tournament and won their first two matches with ease.”
The duo opened state play on Thursday, defeating Colony High School’s Maddie Ponder and Madelyn Tieva 6-1, 6-3. On Friday they defeated Dimond High School’s Rayna Swartwood and Lenora Smith 6-0, 6-1 in the morning, and would face their toughest opponent in the evening, number two seeded West Anchorage’s Maria Hrogovic and Grace Yang.
“Those final few matches of the tournament were extremely difficult,” Madsen said. “The state tournament is already a stressful, competitive event, and the large number of tiebreakers Riley and I played made it even more so. Both the 7-point set breaks and the 10-point match breaks played throughout our final three matches with West put even more pressure on each point played.”
Riley and Madsen defeated the West duo 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-5) Friday evening to take an unblemished record into the championship match, awaiting a challenger from the losers (1-loss) elimination bracket.
West battled back through the losers’ bracket with a Saturday morning win over Service’s Yuna Chung and Ivory Sobeck 4-0, 4-1 to earn play against Dale and Madsen an hour later, and won 6-1, 6-2.
“We played our first couple of matches against Colony and Diamond, won both, and worked on our strategy,” Dale said. “Friday night we played West for the first time in the semifinals, and we won 10-5 in the tiebreaker. That was a fun match because we learned about our opponents, used our skills, played hard, and set ourselves up for the next day. Our last two matches against West were really tough. We made sure to keep the ball cross-court until we could go for a middle ball, but they are a strong pair and had some good shots. Even though second place wasn’t the exact outcome we hoped for, I have so much appreciation for Aurora, and I am so proud of how hard we’ve worked over the years. I couldn't imagine another person I would want to share the court with for the last match of our High School tennis careers.”
The first loss to West meant a Saturday late afternoon if-necessary match for the state title. Both teams got to take a 30-minute break before facing each other again for the third time.
“Both teams came out fired up and played an epic match for the final,” coach Stefanich said. “They were the last match on the courts and fans were lined up on the court, and up in the balcony. Our girls took the first set 5-3, lost the second set 4-5 in a tiebreaker 6-8. This forced a third set tiebreaker to 10.”
West Anchorage won the tiebreaker 1-0 (10-7) to be crowned state champions.
“Riley and I always make sure to talk to each other between almost every point, whether briefly to keep each other’s spirits up or to talk about a specific technique we want to use during the next point,” Madsen said. “I think this is a really strong point in our partnership. It was essential during our matches with Maria and Grace, as we would adapt to who was serving and playing at the net and their varying skill sets. I believe it’s our strategy and communication that helped us the most throughout all of our matches in the tournament. Being partners for two years now has really helped us develop these skills, as we have practiced together so much. I would also say our friendship off the court is extremely helpful in improving our partnership and bettering our game. Riley is a really important friend to me, which is something that will definitely continue, even though we’ve played our last match together. I feel lucky to have been her partner for two years now and to see how far we’ve come.”
The JDHS state tennis team included Dale and Madsen, senior Isaac Hill (boys singles), senior Stahly Sheehan (girls singles), senior Dan Degener and sophomore Isaac Kirsch (boys doubles and sophomores Mia Alexander and Oscar Lamb (mixed doubles), and assistant coaches Mona Mametsuka and Annie Kiincheloe.
Hill won one match and lost two. He opened with a loss to West’s Boden Mason 6-0, 6-4, on Thursday, then defeated Colony’s Tanner McCalla 4-0, 4-1 Friday morning, and was eliminated Friday in a 4-1, 4-2 loss to West’s Adam Kaufman. Dimond’s Todd Debenham won the state title over Service’s Han Keum 6-0, 6-7 (6-8, 1-0 (10-7).
“Isaac (Hill)was a strong player in the middle of a strong bracket,” coach Stefanich said. “He drew a tough first opponent from West High and lost. He came into day two very confident against his Colony opponent and fell into a good groove, winning 4-0,4-1. He lost his next match 1-4, 2-4 in another tough battle against the top seed from West. Overall he played a confident tournament, and finished in fifth place.”
Sheehan opened state play Thursday morning against the top tournament seed, West’s Lana Cebrian, and fell 6-0, 6-0. She would have to play another top seed later Thursday, losing to Colony’s Emily Crawford 4-0, 4-1. West’s Cebrian would win the state title over West Valley’s Leah Austin 6-2, 6-0.
“Stahly (Sheehan) was a first-year player for our team and after an amazing region tournament, she was ready for her first state appearance,” coach Stefanich said. “She drew the number one seed of the tournament from West High, and really tried to take the match in and learn everything she could from it. Her next match was against Colony; who got fourth in the bracket. Stahly lengthened her points and got into long rallies to try and beat her opponent. She lost the match in both sets but had a great appearance at the state tournament.”
Degener and Kirsh opened state play Thursday morning against the top tournament seed, Service’s Shilo Perkins and Ryan Hung, falling 6-2, 6-1. They regrouped for a 4-1, 5-3 win over Thursday afternoon against Chugiak’s Daniel Bingham and Nathan Bingham, but were eliminated Friday by West Valley’s Logan Moore and Wyatt Tansky 4-2, 4-1. Service’s Perkins and Hung won the state title over Lathrop’s Jared Sandy and Henri Van Den Berg 6-3, 6-3.
“They started the tournament against the number one seed, fought hard but lost,” coach Stefanich said. “They game out strong against Chugiak and controlled the pace of the match. They put away their volleys and set each other up with strong groundstrokes and won. They just came up short in a tough match against West Valley at the end.”
JDHS’ mixed doubles team of Alexander and Lamb opened state with a tough first-round win, defeating Eagle River’s Rori Corrigan and Dominic Rotante 2-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-4) Thursday morning, then fell to the second-ranked team from East, Bridget Hall and Elias Barnard 7-5, 6-0. They were eliminated in a grueling match against Bartlett’s Savanna Knowles and Clement Bruchon 2-4, 4-1, 1-0 (12-10). Hall and Bruchon would play on into the championship final and lost to champions Lilly Anderson and Bode Leonelli from Lathrop, 6-2, 6-2.
“Our mixed team had a great tournament,” coach Stefanich said. “ They won in the first round against senior players from Eagle River. As sophomore players in their first state tournament they came out with serious determination. Their next match was against second-ranked East High from Anchorage and they got down 5-2 in the first set and battled back to 5-5 before losing it 7-5… The next morning they came out with a good strategy against Bartlett from Anchorage. They won the first set and Bartlett made a few adjustments to take a close second set, pushing us to a 10-point tiebreaker. We lost that tiebreaker 11-9 and were eliminated from the tournament, but they are ready to get stronger and come back again next year.”
The top four team placings were West, Service, Lathrop and Dimond. West Valley placed fifth and JDHS sixth.
The JDHS tennis team will gather for a team banquet at the Mendenhall River School at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at sports@juneauindependent.com
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