Senior Anna Volkov and junior Whitney Cinkala will represent Whitman in the tennis state finals for ladies doubles in the spring, looking to become the fourth state champions in coach Julie Frank’s seven-year coaching tenure.

While the girls’ season finished in the fall, the state championship isn’t held until after the boys’ season in the spring so that all players can go together. Cinkala thinks the break could give her and Volkov an advantage at states.

“It would hurt us if we were to stop playing, but it’s both of our main focuses so it’s not like we’re going to let it slip,” Cinkala said. “Especially since we have a motive now.”

The duo is the number two seed in the state tournament, ranked behind the Churchill team that beat them in the regional finals. Each region sends two teams to states from the regional finals.

Before this year, both Volkov and Cinkala had made it to the regional semifinals, but had never made it past that point. Despite never making states before this season, Volkov is confident about their chances.

“I think our toughest competition is going to be Churchill,” she said. “We’ve already played them so I think that we can easily make it to the finals and hopefully beat them.”

For Frank, the decision to pair Volkov and Cinkala as a doubles team wasn’t too difficult.

“I think the style of Anna and Whitney’s games really complement each other,” Frank said. “These two are really good friends on and off the court, and even though they were playing together for the first time as a doubles team, they clicked immediately.”