Alexis Uschold exited the Class 6A girls tennis state championships Saturday with one of the best finishes in years for the South Medford girls program, with the freshman placing fourth at the Tualatin Hills Tennis Center in Beaverton.

Uschold fought hard in a 6-3, 7-5 loss to Sunset’s Nikhitha Suresh in the third-place match but couldn’t quite get over the hump in suffering her second straight defeat to end the tournament.

With her fourth-place finish in singles, Uschold was able to advance further in the bracket than any other Panther in the last 28 years, with Heather Hannan (1996) and Kelsey Bartlett (2016) having appearances in the quarterfinals.

South Medford girls tennis coach Jay Rapp said he is excited to see what the future holds for Uschold after she showed she can hang with the best, reaching the semifinal round before facing defeat.

“We’re expecting really good things out of her from that for the next few years,” said Rapp. “And that all started this weekend because now she knows what to expect. We are loving the chances that she has going into the tournament next year.”

Seeded sixth out of the 28-player field, Uschold started Friday with an upset of No. 4 Sonya Drayton in a 6-2, 6-3 decision before losing to the eventual 6A runner-up and No. 2 seed Carissa Gerung of Jesuit in a 6-1, 6-2 decision.

In her lone match Saturday, the Panther almost earned a bronze medal with a strong showing that nearly netted a deciding third set.

“Every point seemed to be super close and it just came down to a few big points here and there,” said Rapp. “But she battled hard in a really good match.”

“Alexis seems to be so far ahead of most girls at her age with her mental toughness,” he added. “She never feels like she’s out of it and always feels like she can win and that’s all you need.”

Ashland saw Veronica Miller also place fourth in singles following a 6-2, 6-2 setback to Kate Bonetto of Summit in the Class 5A girls tennis state championships at the West Hills Racquet Fitness Club.

Miller, the No. 3 seed, was relegated to the third-place final after a 6-0, 6-1 loss in the semifinals to eventual champion Kennedy Harris of La Salle Prep.

In 4A/3A/2A/1A, Carys Chamberland and Pratheeka Weerakoon fell short of a state title in doubles for the St. Mary’s girls tennis team after falling 6-2, 6-1 in the title match to Vale’s Elise Seals and Ellie Seals at the OSU Tennis Complex in Corvallis.

The No. 3 doubles pair earned a spot in the finals after upsetting top-seeded Phoebie Larson and Stella Larson in a 7-5, 6-3 victory to start Saturday.

With a combined effort, the St. Mary’s girls were able to tie for second place by scoring 10 points to equal North Bend, Oregon Episcopal and Vale. Marist won the girls team title with 20.5 points.

For the St. Mary’s boys, No. 3-seeded junior Reid Ravassipour defeated Oregon Episcopal School’s Mason Do 6-0, 6-3 to place third in singles at the 4A/3A/2A/1A boys state championships.

The Crusaders also saw the doubles team of Sriram Dinesh and Titus Stark-Seymour win the consolation bracket in a hard-earned 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 victory over fellow St. Mary’s tandem Lucas Peterson and Landus Ho.

That combination allowed St. Mary’s to place fourth in the boys team standings with 10.5 points, trailing champion Marist (36.5), Oregon Episcopal (24) and Catlin Gabel (19).