This year, second place was good enough.

Coupeville High School seniors Payton Aparicio and Sage Renninger placed second in the District 3 1A tennis doubles tournament Wednesday and Thursday, May 16 and 17, at Tacoma’s Sprinker Tennis Center and earned a spot in the state tournament.

The Coupeville pair also finished second last year, but District 3 was allocated only one state berth in 2017.

Aparicio and Renninger defeated two Charles Wright Academy duos Wednesday to reach the finals Thursday where they lost to sisters Grace and Kate Jung of Cascade Christian 6-3, 6-0.

The state berth is the first for a Coupeville girls tennis player since Julia Sierra Castano qualified in 2010. The last doubles team to qualify for state was Megan Monroe and Hannah Merrell in 2008.

The Wolves had two other entries in this year’s the district tournament.

Sophomores Tia Wurzrainer and Avalon Renninger, Sage’s sister, finished fourth out of eight doubles teams.

Senior singles player Claire Mietus lost twice on Wednesday and was eliminated.

Coupeville, coached by Ken Stange, finished tied for second with Vashon Island in the district team standings behind Charles Wright.