Tiger tennis competes in SEK tournament

PITTSBURG -- Fort Scott High School's tennis team took part in the Southeast Kansas League Tournament here Saturday.

The Tigers did not win a match and finished with no points in finishing eighth (Columbus was unable to participate).

"We knew it would be a very tough tournament for us," Fort Scott head coach Lynn Barr said. "We have a very young, very inexperienced team and it is quite a challenge to ask this group of girls to compete at the varsity level at this point in their careers. They do have potential and if they work hard and continue to improve we should be a much more competitive team in the next couple of years, only time will tell."

Lauren Caulfield played No. 1 singles. She lost to Candace Chapman of Coffeyville, 8-0, Alahna Broadway of Parsons, 8-1, and Kirti Ghandi of Iola, 8-1.

"Lauren played some good tennis at times, but just came up against some really solid players in her matches," Barr said.

Heather Hobbs played No. 2 singles. She lost to Brianna Hilger of Independence, 8-0, Eunae Abbuehl of Chanute, 8-0, and Nekki Reddington of Coffeyville, 8-1.

Taylor Bailey and Kalia Dancy played No. 1 doubles. They lost to Ashlee Carr/Kelby McGrath of Independence, 8-0, Preeya Patel/Erika Taylor of Iola, 8-1, and Bethany Ely/Melissa Churning of Chanute, 8-7 (7-4).

Sammi Carr and Ashlyn Baugher played No. 2 doubles. They lost to Kelsey Mayes/Sammi Mayes of Independence, 8-0, Tiffany Sutton/Lindsey Ong of Parsons, 8-1, and Czarina Ramos/Carlyn Ward of Chanute, 8-3.

"Both doubles teams competed well in their final two matches," Barr said. "Taylor and Kalia made a nice comeback to force the tiebreaker against Chanute, but just couldn't play consistently enough to string together enough points to come out with the win. I thought the freshmen combination of Sammi and Ashlyn competed pretty well in their final two matches also."

The Tigers will go to Parsons Tuesday for a Class 4A Regional Tennis Tournament. Play there should begin between 9:30 and 10 a.m.