Independence wins 3rd straight SEK tennis title

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

CHANUTE -- Independence won its third straight championship and its 10th in 11 seasons after finishing well ahead of the pack at the Southeast Kansas League Tennis Tournament here Saturday.

Independence, which has won or shared 31 championships since the first SEK girls' tournament in 1973, scored 26 team points while Chanute was second with 17 and Parsons third with 14. Fort Scott finished in seventh place with 6 team points.

"We knew going in that we facing a big challenge and we would have to play our best tennis of the season in order to have a good finish in this tournament," Fort Scott head coach Lynn Barr said. "Although we were disappointed in the results, Coach Fox and I were very proud of how hard the girls played, the effort they gave in this tournament. Unforced errors were again a problem and being able to consistently put pressure on our opponents by playing well for extended amounts of time were just too much to overcome."

Third-seeded Jennifer Harrison (20-10) finished fourth in No. 1 singles with a 2-2 record for the day. She opened with a win over the No. 6 seed, Pittsburg's Sam Cicero, by an 8-1 count. She fell in the semifinal to second-seeded and two-time defending singles champ Abbi Groff of Independence, 6-2, 6-1.

In consolation, Harrison defeated Parsons' Sammi Ford, 8-2. Abby Liudhal of Chanute won the third-place match, 6-2, 6-0.

"In the semifinal against Groff, Jennifer played some good tennis at times, but Groff is a player that just doesn't make many mistakes and makes you earn your points," Barr said. "And we just weren't able to string together enough points to really impact the outcome of the match.

"In Jennifer's next round, she again played a very good match taking a win against Ford, who had beaten her early in the season. Jennifer played with patience and did a good job of breaking down her opponent and was able to control the match from the start. In the third-place match, Liudahl was hitting the ball well and Jennifer was completely unable to mount any kind of attack of defense against her opponent. It was a disappointing loss. I know Jennifer believes she is a better player than she showed in that match."

Each of the Tigers' other three entries finished in sixth place. Alex King (8-19) played No. 2 singles and lost in the first round to Wright of Parsons, 8-2. She won her first consolation match, 8-6, over Coffeyville's Taylor Neal. Abi Felter of Pittsburg took an 8-2 decision in the consolation semifinal and Haley Page of Labette County won the final match, 8-7 (13-11).

"In the fifth-place match, Alex had quite a battle," Barr said. "The LCHS player has beaten Alex each time they have played, but each match has gotten closer and closer as the season has progressed and this one was quite a battle. It was a hard fought match and we are extremely proud of the way Alex hung in and fought until the end."

Char Hutchison and Emmah Reeves (13-17) were defeated in the opening match of No. 1 doubles, 8-2, by Katy Short and Molly Lundberg of Pittsburg. In consolation, they beat Nolan/Vargis of Coffeyville, 8-1. Bryleigh Beardmore/Amanda Rogers of Parsons then took an 8-3 decision and Patricia Stevenson/Page Smith of Labette County won an 8-4 verdict.

"These two have learned a lot this season about what it's going to take to successfully compete in No. 1 doubles," Barr said. "Now they need to take that experience and learn from it and build on it for next season."

Milayla Norris and Briana Williams (8-12) lost their first-round match against Farris/Stephens of Parsons, 8-2. They defeated Victoria Smith/Madison Giesen of Coffeyville, 8-1. They fell to Sam Bollinger/Aliza Benedict of Pittsburg in straight sets and to Marlee and Selena Perez of Labette County, 8-4.

"Mikayla and Briana played well at times and at times hurt themselves with errors and by failing to win those key points when they had the opportunity," Barr said. "They faced a pretty good Parsons team in the first round and followed that with a solid win against Coffeyville in their first round out the backside."

This weekend, the Tigers will be back in Chanute for the Class 4A Regional Tournament. Class 4A is not split into divisions for tennis and there is only one bracket for singles and one for doubles in post-season play.