North Kitsap's state tennis title pursuit fueled by multi-sport athletes

North Kitsap tennis coach Jay DeVries re-enacted the conversation, changing the tone in his voice to reflect the curiosity and surprise of the person seated next to him.

It was two years ago when the Vikings boys doubles team of Josh Smith and Drake Jones chased a Class 2A state title at the Nordstrom Tennis Center in Seattle. After one victory, the opposing team's coach approached DeVries with an inquiry.

"Do they always play like that?" the coach asked DeVries, referring to Smith and Jones.

"Like what?" DeVries responded.

"Well, you know, that kind of tennis?" the coach continued.

DeVries returned the coach's question with an ace response: "The winning kind of tennis? Yes, that's how they play."

DeVries understood the inquiry. Smith and Jones didn't necessarily have the look of classic tennis champions compared to some of their opposition. That's often been the case with North Kitsap's program under DeVries, who has coached boys tennis at North Kitsap for 23 years and added girls duties four years ago.

Though some schools succeed with diehard, club-trained, 12-months-out-of-the-year tennis players, North Kitsap usually succeeds with part-time players who were initially recruited by DeVries to discover their talents between the lines — and who occasionally find ways to flummox opposing coaches like the one DeVries encountered at state two years ago.

"His guys were club kids, just refined, every volley is pure, the overheads are sweet, the second serves are dynamite," DeVries said. "(Smith and Jones) are just going to run everything down and not make a lot of mistakes, they're really smart. It was a ton of fun."

There could be more titles coming North Kitsap's way this week as DeVries will take seven players to the 2A tournament in Seattle: Indigo Gallagher (boys singles), Teegan DeVries (girls singles) and Mason Chmielewski/Spencer Gillespie, Grady DeVries/Owen Wilkinson and Mason Repp/Justin Gallant (boys doubles).

In the fall, North Kitsap's boys team won league and district tournament titles with Chmielewski and Gillespie finishing first at both events. This spring, North Kitsap's girls added a league tournament title with league champion Teegan DeVries placing second at last week's district tournament.

Jay DeVries said having three doubles teams in the boys' field at state could be enough to lift the Vikings to the team title. No other school has more than one doubles team in the competition.

"It's really set up well for us," said DeVries, whose boys team placed third overall in 2022 and second in 2023. "All three of these doubles teams, they're as good as anyone I've seen in the state."

As usual, this Viking team is fueled by a mix of athletes. For some, tennis is their lone sport. But for North Kitsap's top-seeded players at state, tennis is a part-time sport. Teegan DeVries plays volleyball and basketball, Gillespie plays basketball and basketball, and Chmielewski plays basketball and soccer.

"He just finds all the athletes," Teegan said of her father, who played four years at Oak Harbor High School.

Perhaps the only dilemma facing the Vikings this week is Chmielewski's busy schedule. As a captain on North Kitsap's boys soccer team, the Vikings are scheduled to play in the semifinals Friday at noon at Renton Memorial Stadium. That's the same day state tennis opens, and Chmielewski/Gillespie are scheduled to play two matches, with times yet to be determined.

Last year, Chmielewski was able to balance both sports during the final week of state, helping the soccer team place second while pairing with Ethan Gillespie to take fourth in doubles tennis. The timing of events could be more difficult to negotiate this week, but Chmielewski is hopeful tournament directors can create wiggle room with scheduling, allowing him to participate in both tournaments — and avoid having to potentially make a gut-wrenching decision of picking one sport over the other.

"I feel like they should have some more leniency," Chmielewski said after practice Monday.

DeVries called it a tough situation for Chmielewski, who is the type of athlete the head coach loves having as part of his program: talented in ways that break the mold of what it means to be a superb tennis player.

"You're so good at stuff," DeVries said, "you have to worry about playing in two state finals."

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: North Kitsap tennis' title pursuit fueled by multi-sport athletes