VANCOUVER — As the only Vikings tennis court crusaders in the state finals, North’s No. 1 girls’ doubles team swung into Vancouver May 26 with high hopes and big dreams. But bad luck struck them down in the first round.

North Kitsap High School senior Kearney Bangs and sophomore Britt Seaberg earned their way into the state tournament with a gutsy performance that carried them through the district consolation bracket May 20. When state finals play began, the Viking tandem was on top of its game.

“We came into it pretty confident and won the first set easy,” Seaberg said, noting their 6-2 set over Megan Amundson and Lauren Crawford of Stanwood.

“Then in the second set it was really close and I sprained my ankle, so I had to play the rest with it taped up and swollen,” Bangs said. “It was really disappointing.”

The Lady Vikings battled the Lady Spartans swing for swing in a back-and-forth second set until Bangs rolled her ankle and NK’s game changed. Stanwood took the second set by a count of 6-4, but Bangs and Seaburg were back in the final set with a 6-3 victory, to move on in the bracket and match up with the eventual state champion squad from Bellarmine Prep.

Taking into account Bangs’ swollen ankle, the NK duo decided to forfeit their second round match to BP’s Suzie Matzenauer and Alita Fisher and take their chances in the consolation bracket.

It was there that Todd Beamer’s Megan Havili and Judy Liening closed the Lady Vikings season in 6-0, 6-2 sets, but both Bangs and Seaberg left the state court with lessons learned.

“It just reinforced ‘never give up,’ because I would’ve never originally thought that we would’ve been able to win that third set in the first match,” Seaberg said, noting determination as one of the biggest lessons she has learned from the 2006 season.

“But don’t always assume that everything is going to go perfect,” she added.

Seaberg will be back in 2007 to lead the Lady Viking tennis team which finished second in the Narrows League this year. While Bangs will be moving on to FOREMORE COLLEGE IN PENNSYLVANIA hoping to continue her tennis career, but she will have to prove herself as a walk-on.

“I think I’ve improved a lot this year, I’m stronger player and I have more confidence,” Bangs noted as 2006 traits that should help her in the future. “And just the fact that I’ve been to the state tournament two years, I think will help a lot.”