The girls tennis meet Monday between Cedar Rapids Washington and Kennedy was billed as the first round of the state team tournament.

But with the competition at Jefferson and just the two teams and their fans on hand, it didn't really have a state tournament atmosphere.

"The first round always feels weird," Washington senior Katie Hammond said. "It doesn't really feel like state until you get down to Iowa City."

The Warriors are headed back to Iowa City after dispatching the Cougars, 5-0, in a Class 2A state tournament quarterfinal. The final four play June 2 at the University of Iowa, the day after the two-day singles and doubles state competition.

Washington is 19-0 overall. The Warriors have won all three tournament meets by 5-0 counts and have a season match record of 152-7.

Washington Coach Dan Reyner said he thinks this edition of the Warriors is better than the team that finished fourth in last year's state meet.

"We have a freshman (Lilly Hartman) in the lineup this year and we have six returnees from last year," Reyner said. "We had to bump somebody down, so, yeah, this is a stronger team."

That takes some of the pressure off Hammond, the Warriors' No. 1 player in singles.

"There are a lot of teams that have strong No. 1 players," said Hammond, who beat Kennedy's Sarah Lasecki, 6-1, 6-0, Monday. "The fact that we have six solid players makes it less important as to how we do at No. 1. That No. 6 match is just as important."

Reyner said he is hopeful the Warriors receive a No. 2 seed for the team tournament. The seeds will be announced Wednesday.

"They're incredible," he said of his team. "We just have to keep our heads on straight for two more weeks."

Besides the team tournament, all six Warriors also will compete in singles and doubles the previous two days. Reyner downplayed that as being a cause for concern.

"We're playing tennis for three days," he said. "We're just going to have to cowboy up."

The singles and doubles tournament is May 31 and June 1 at Iowa City.

WASHINGTON 5, KENNEDY 0

Singles

1. Katie Hammond (CRW) def. Sarah Lasecki, 6-1, 6-0
2. Kristin King (CRW) def. Katherine Thompson, 6-2, 6-3
3. Lilly Hartman (CRW) def. Lindsay Minder, 6-1, 6-0
4. Olivia Brooks (CRW) vs. Alexa Mitchell, 6-3, stopped
5. Lanie Sabin (CRW) def. Rachel Gilman, 6-1, 6-0
6. Rina Moore (CRW) def. Melanie Abzug, 6-2, 6-0

No doubles