Junior Kei Tokeshi of Okinawa Christian School International prepares to smash a forehand volley against Dale Tubat of Kubasaki in the boys final in the Okinawa Activities Council district singles tennis tournament Oct. 29, 2012, at Kadena Air Base Okinawa. Tokeshi became the first OCSI player to win both a doubles and singles OAC district title, beating Tubat 8-0 five days after winning the district doubles title with teammate James Durham. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Junior Kei Tokeshi of Okinawa Christian School International prepares to smash a forehand volley against Dale Tubat of Kubasaki in the boys final in the Okinawa Activities Council district singles tennis tournament Oct. 29, 2012, at Kadena Air Base Okinawa. Tokeshi became the first OCSI player to win both a doubles and singles OAC district title, beating Tubat 8-0 five days after winning the district doubles title with teammate James Durham. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Junior Kei Tokeshi of Okinawa Christian School International slams a forehand volley against Dale Tubat of Kubasaki in the boys final in the Okinawa Activities Council district singles tennis tournament Oct. 29, 2012, at Kadena Air Base Okinawa. Tokeshi became the first OCSI player to win both a doubles and singles OAC district title, beating Tubat 8-0 five days after winning the district doubles title with teammate James Durham. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Senior Erika Youngdahl, of Kadena, slaps a forehand groundstroke against Okinawa Christian School International's Catherine Funakoshi during the girls semifinal in the Okinawa Activities Council district singles tennis tournament Oct. 29, 2012, at Kadena Air Base Okinawa. Youngdahl won 8-4, then went on to win her third straight district gold, beating teammate Kristin Howard 9-8 (7-5). (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
KADENA AIR BASE, Okinawa – Erika Youngdahl completed a rare feat for a DODDS Pacific tennis player, capturing her fourth district tennis tournament singles gold medal, the last three in the Okinawa Activities Council and the first three years ago in the Kanto Plain Association of Secondary Schools.
The Kadena senior survived a back-and-forth finals battle against her doubles partner, junior Kristin Howard, and needed five match points to outlast her 9-8 (7-5) on Monday at Kadena’s Risner Tennis Complex.
Kristin was "amazing,” said Youngdahl, who with Howard last Wednesday captured her third straight OAC district doubles title. “I’m really lucky to have her as a partner. It’s hard to play a teammate.”
The boys singles final lacked the drama exhibited in the girls final. Kei Tokeshi became the first Okinawa Christian International player to win an OAC singles gold, blanking Kubasaki’s Dale Tubat 8-0. Tubat was the first Kubasaki boys player to reach an OAC singles final.
