The doubles team of senior Gillian Braden-Armstrong and freshman Nicole Bouche from Mountlake Terrace High School qualified for the state 3A tennis championships by finishing second in district play Wednesday at Glacier Peak High School in Snohomish. They will be one of 16 pairs competing for the 3A state championship May 25-26 in Kennewick.

Braden-Armstrong and Bouche defeated Haley Monson and Janie Uppinghouse of Shorecrest High School 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 to land the last spot from WIAA District 1 to the state tournament.

Earlier in the day Braden-Armstrong and Bouche lost the district championship match to Francesca O’Malley and Daniella Brengelmann of Shorewood High School 4-6, 7-6, 7-5. By winning the district title, O’Malley-Brengelmann are also heading to the state tournament.

The teams of Braden-Bouche and O’Malley-Brengelmann have developed quite a rivalry this postseason with close, tense matches against each other. While the Shorewood pair came out on top in Wednesday’s district championships, Braden-Bouche had the upper hand the week before at the Sub-District tournament when the MTHS pair squeaked by O’Malley-Brengelmann 7-6 (7-5 tiebreaker), 7-5.

Braden-Bouche are the second team from Mountlake Terrace to qualify for a state tournament this spring. The MTHS baseball team begins state tournament play this Saturday in Mount Vernon at 1 p.m. against Columbia River (Vancouver) High School. If the Hawks win, they play the winner of Mountain View (Vancouver)-Bishop Blanchet game at approximately 4 p.m.