Driving to Mount Vernon had the possibility of being just a long road trip for Carlie Newman to watch tennis.

Turned out she had to play, and she had to win. The South Whidbey sophomore won in straight sets, including a come-from-behind tiebreaker in the second set. Newman beat Coupeville senior Amanda d’Almeida 6-1, 7-6 (7-3) and claimed the second seed from District 1 in the 1A tri-district girls tennis tournament.

For how quickly the first set rolled (15 minutes), the second set dragged on for 45 minutes. d’Almeida led 4-3 before Newman rallied and forced a tiebreaker.

“Carlie hates to lose,” said Falcon head coach Karyle Kramer. “She has an inner drive that keeps her pushing through the toughest points and she displayed it on Saturday.”

Newman finished in second place after losing only one match all season to her sister, senior Hayley Newman.

“We’re at a bit of a disadvantage being newbies this year to this division and not having played most of the teams during the season,” Kramer said. “However, it could also be our advantage because we could surprise some players.”

d’Almeida finished in third place and Saskia Dolk placed fourth in singles.

Falcon doubles team Hannah Calderwood and Isla Dubendorf lost to Blaine’s Alicia Allison and Shirin Roth-Lerner 6-2, 6-4, in a contest closer than the score indicates. Many games extended to deuce several times. Calderwood and Dubendorf finished fourth in the tournament. Blaine’s team placed third.

South Whidbey’s top doubles team finished second behind Blaine’s top team which beat them on May 9 at South Whidbey High School. The Falcons hold three of the four District 1 entries to the 1A tri-district tournament at 9 a.m. at Amy Yee Tennis Center in Seattle on Friday, May 17.