West Linn frosh Leah Lup wins Class 6A state tennis title

Published 7:51 pm Saturday, May 24, 2025

By Miles Vance

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West Linn's Leah Lup plays her way to the Class 6A state singles championship at Babette Horenstein Tennis Center in Beaverton on Saturday, May 24. (Miles Vance)

West Linn’s Leah Lupp celebrates after winning the Class 6A state singles championship at Babette Horenstein Tennis Center in Beaverton on Saturday, May 24. (Miles Vance)

She’s only a freshman, but West Linn’s Leah Lup brought the whole package to the 2025 Class 6A girls state tennis tournament.

She was calm. She was cool. She was consistent and she was opportunistic.

And most importantly, she was also a winner after knocking off Nelson sophomore Sofia Sorokina 6-3, 6-4 in the state singles championship under sunny skies at Babette Horenstein Tennis Center in Beaverton on Saturday, May 24. In the process, Lup became the first state champion in West Linn High School history and the first freshman to win the Class 6A state crown since Tigard’s Lizzy Stevens pulled it off in 2017.

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“It’s awesome,” the fifth-seeded Lup said after finishing off the fourth-seeded Sorokina in straight sets. “It’s always been my dream, and to win as a freshman is great so I’m super happy.”

Lup built her win on a combination of solid serving, accuracy and perseverance as the hard-hitting Sorokina chased winners all afternoon – sometimes with great success and sometimes with less so.

“I knew she was going to be a super tough opponent,” Lup said. “We play together all the time (so) I just took it one point at a time and tried to play my game and it worked out.”

Along the way to her championship, Lup won five straight times, including upsets over third-seeded Benson sophomore Carlyta Barfield (6-0, 6-2) in the quarterfinals, top-seeded Westview junior Nikhitha Suresh (6-4, 6-0) in the semifinals and her “W” over Sorokina in the title match.

“Seeds don’t really mean anything to me,” Lup added. “When I walked into the first match, I was of course super nervous, but I knew I had what it takes.”

Along with a fourth-place singles finish from sixth-seeded West Linn sophomore Sonya Drayton – she upset second-seeded South Medford sophomore Alexis Uschold 1-6, 7-6 (6), 6-3 in the quarterfinals to earn her berth in the semis – West Linn finished second at state with 16 points; Westview won the team title with 19 points, while Lake Oswego placed eighth with six points and Lakeridge took 24th with .5 points.

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