>La Grande Observer | Union and Wallowa Counties' News Leader

DOUBLE TROUBLE: La Grande’s Kara Gerst (right) and Josi Lyman (left) celebrate after winning the Class 4A doubles championship. Submitted photo

But the fairy tale ending that finished with a hard court title began under the florescent lights of the basketball court.

The story’s characters started as middle school basketball players.

Kara Gerst and Josi Lyman moved on to high school.

While starting a storied career on the Tigers volleyball team, Josi Lyman took to the hard court in the spring for something to do.

Her sister Kaci played, and Josi thought why not give it a try.

A year later the team came together. Kara started playing her sophomore year.

“My other doubles partner was gone for a week,” Lyman said. “Coach Schireman put (Kara and I) together. It just worked for us. We were friends before that, and I think that made it easier. We’ve played together ever since then.”

 The journey started slowly — two and out in 2006. Still, even with rough spots, Gerst and Lyman continued on.

They spent hours with Schireman and Tim Hoffnagle for backhands, forehands and service practice.

Those strides led to a first round win as juniors.

“We work really well together,” Gerst said. “I know what she’s going to do, and she knows what I’m going to do.”

Every storybook hero, or in this case duo, faces a nemesis.

Gerst and Lyman were introduced to theirs following their first win at the state tournament in 2007.

Erin Enberg and Gwenneth Johnson of Oregon Episcopal School took down the Tigers duo.

Enberg and Johnson went on to win the state doubles title. 

The thoughts and feelings of that loss subsided. A few weeks later their minds turned to summer and volleyball.

During their senior volleyball campaign the Tigers cruised to the Class 4A State Championship game.

But Sisters rode away with the championship.

“It’s not fun to get to the championship game and lose,” Gerst said. “That’s not how the dream goes.”

That thought stuck with the Tigers No. 1 doubles team.

But slowly things unraveled, and without their close friendship the duo may have unraveled too.

Their initial goal — march through the regular season undefeated.

That plan worked for a while. Then the game turned into a game. It wasn’t the calming sport Lyman remembered as a freshman.

Two losses before the district tournament shook the team, but didn’t rock the friendship.

“That’s when teams really get into trouble,” Lyman said. “When you start fighting, it’s tough to win or even want to play.”

The tailspin continued at the district tournament — a third-place finish.

“We weren’t having fun,” Gerst said. “That became our motto for the state tournament. If we had fun, we were going to be fine.”

Amazingly the strategy worked. Having fun meant relaxing. Relaxing translated into winning.

A tough opening set — 7-6 (5) — turned into the tournament theme.

Lyman and Gerst went on to round two after winning the second set 6-3.

A quick, 6-4, 6-1 win in round two put the Tigers team into uncharted territory.

Getting to round three was great. Then the duo navigated the branch-like bracket to their opponent. Their fingers stopped at OES — Enberg and Johnson.

Thoughts of last season slowly crept back — disappointment.

But that’s when this team showed why they work so well together.

Gerst set the tone as the vocal leader of the team.

“(Kara) knows how to settle us down,” Lyman said. “We’re both really competitive, but I’m just trying to relax on the tennis court. (Kara) makes sure we’re right where we need to be.”

The struggle began.

La Grande battled back in the first set.

With the momentum hanging in the balance, Gerst and Lyman pulled out the first set in a tie-break 7-6 (5).

Enberg and Johnson cruised in the second set 6-3.

In the third set Lyman and Gerst jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the third set.

“We tried not to get ahead of ourselves,” Gerst said. “I’m not sure what happened, but we lost our focus a little bit after that.”

Enberg and Johnson battled back to force the tie-break.

That’s when friendship led to a championship.

The OES jumped with the first four points.

Slowly, Gerst and Lyman chipped away.

“We stayed pretty level-headed,” Lyman said. “But you could see it was getting to (Enberg and Johnson) when we made our run. They began to fight a little bit amongst themselves.”

Staying together and focusing led to a 7-6 (4) win. 

“It felt so good to win that match,” Gerst said. “After getting by OES, we felt like we could finish it out.”

La Grande cruised in its semifinal and championship matches in straight sets.

“It didn’t sink in for a while,” Lyman said. “We didn’t even realize it was the first state title for the school’s tennis team. Someone told us, and it made it even more special.”

Who knows what’s in store next for the Tigers duo.

Coming this fall, Gerst and Lyman will attend Lewis-Clark State College.

“Being able to win the state title with (Josi) made it a very special thing,” Gerst said. “We hang out every day. Now we’ll get to do it for another four years.”