Vale sisters sweep through tennis season, capped with state doubles title – Malheur Enterprise

The tennis lob came at Ellie Seals in the back court.

“I cannot miss this,” the Vale High School freshman thought to herself. “This is for the title.”

Seals was in doubles play at the state tennis championship, teamed up with her sister Elise, a junior.

Ellie backhanded the ball to opponents from St. Mary’s of Medford, who volleyed it back.

Elise reacted.

“I poached to the middle in front,” she recalled. “I put it away.”

With that point, the Seals team won the state tennis doubles championship in play on Saturday, May 25, in Corvallis.

“It was unreal,” Elise said.

The win was a family affair.

Their father, Randy Seals, also coaches the tennis teams at Vale. Their grandfather, Jeff, is an assistant coach.

The two girls say they have long played tennis in a family where everyone gets to the court – aunts, uncles, cousins.

Their father took over as Vale tennis coach last year. He’s not the first member of the family to coach the team. His brother Ryan and his mother Susan both served in those roles before.

Elise and Ellie each started competitive play in sixth grade.

“I’ve always had a competitive drive to win,” Elise said.

As they moved into competition, they took lessons, sometimes in Boise, and competed in summer tournaments.

Their father said a player’s ability to get through adversity on the court has much to do with their success.

“You have to have a lot of mental toughness,” Randy Seals said.

Elise made it state tournaments before, finishing fourth in doubles play when she was a freshman and then taking the consolation championship last year as a sophomore.

When Ellie became a freshman, she joined her sister in doubles play.

“I was super nervous” in that role, Ellie said. “It was really intimidating.”

But Elise said the two “just click well” because her strength is the forehand while Ellie’s is the backhand.

For the two, the mental aspect of competition is a key.

Elise says she’s learned not to get down on herself when she makes a mistake on the court.

And she is the on-court morale booster for her sister.

“She’s the one to pick me up – ‘You got this,’” Ellie said.

They largely swept through the regular season, often winning by 6-1 and 6-2 margins. They lost just one set, in play against Fruitland High School. That set in March went 3-6, 6-4, 13-11 for the Viking win.

At the state tournament, they found the semifinal match against Marist the toughest.

“Our dad calmed us down” as Marist changed the tempo, Elise said.

“I was on the verge of tears,” Ellie said.

With the win, they were set for the title match.

Randy Seals had scouted the other players.

“Honestly, I didn’t expect to win,” he said.

The Seals sisters worked to relax and enjoy the moment.

“We’re proud of each other, proud of what we accomplished” by that point, Elise said.

“We were laughing during points,” Ellie said.

“We got where we wanted to be,” her sister said, saying they wanted to have no regrets no matter the outcome.

The two finished the season undefeated.

As a bonus, Vale also brought home the second-place team state trophy.

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