Hermiston's Edgar Umana, left, and Carson Evans were named to the 2024 Mid-Columbia Conference all-conference second team for tennis.

HERMISTON — For the first time since the 2021, the Hermiston boys tennis team had a player selected to the Mid-Columbia Conference all-conference team.

In fact, the Bulldogs had four players selected — Edgar Umana and Carson Evans were named to the second team, and Kelyn Purves and Kyle Ernst were selected to the honorable mention team.

Hermiston finished 3-5 in conference play.

“They have been putting in the work for the past three years,” Hermiston coach Matt Bake said. “Hundreds of hours of practice to get to the level where we could compete. They love playing tennis. It has become almost a style of life for them.”

All four players took a swing at singles during the season, and when they paired up for doubles, it was a mix of players until late in the season when Umana and Evans took the court together.

Umana and Evans won the MCC 3A tournament title, with Purves and Ernst finishing third.

“We were third behind Southridge and Walla Walla,” Bake said of the MCC tournament. “We had 25 points. There were years we only had four points.”

Both doubles teams advanced to the District 8 tournament, where Umana and Evans just fell short of a trip to state. Purves and Ernst went 0-2.

“That is the furthest Hermiston has ever made it,” Bake said of his No. 1 team. “Between the MCC and Spokane league, it’s crazy competitive.”

The Bulldogs will return all four players next season, but lose depth with the graduation of five seniors.

Richland senior Matt Morrison was named player of the year, and Hanford’s Craig Klatt was selected coach of the year after leading the Falcons to an 8-0 record.

Player of the year — Matt Morrison, sr., Richland.

Coach of the year — Craig Klatt, Hanford.

First team

Matt Morrison, sr., Richland; Adam Tan, jr., Hanford; Ken Higgins, sr., Walla Walla; Maxwell Clary, sr., Kamiakin; William Stratton, so., Kamiakin; Soban Malik, so., Richland; Zohair Arif, so., Richland.

Second team

Kyle Chan, sr., Southridge; Emerson, sr., Hanford; Jaitan Woodworth, so., Richland; Micah Eggart, fr., Walla Walla; Robert Horton, sr., Walla Walla; Edgar Umana, jr., Hermiston; Carson Evans, jr., Hermiston.

Honorable mention

Xavier Zhang, sr., Hanford; Mooyoun Kim, jr., Richland; Luke Higgins, fr., Walla Walla; Kelyn Purves, so., Hermiston; Kyle Ernst, jr., Hermiston; Nathan Hummel, sr., Richland; Brayden Kay, jr., Richland.