WICHITA, Kan. – After a long day of tennis and a venue change, the McPherson Bullpup girls tennis team claimed the championship at the AVCTL Division III and IV Tournament on Monday.
The Bullpups had a team score of 55 points, five ahead of Collegiate in second with 50. The day started at Collegiate High School, but action was moved to Genesis Rock Road for the evening matches due to no lights at Collegiate.
The most success individually on the day came from the doubles teams. Mayson Wiens and Lleyton Kuhn teamed up to go 4-0 and win the league title, beating their teammates Avery Unruh and Quinn Liebl in the championship match 7-5, 6-1. Unruh and Liebl finished in second place at 3-1 on the day.
In singles, Dragon Rodriguez and McKenna Paul were seeded fifth and sixth in the bracket. At the end of the day, those seed held true. Rodriguez went 3-1 and finished in fifth place and Paul was 2-2 in 6th.
McPherson coach Tyler Brown was excited about his team winning the league title, but he knows there is still work to do as the postseason officially begins on Friday in regional action. “Today was a great day for our program, but now it’s time to get back to work and prepare for the matches that matter most,” said Brown. “There are a lot of talented players in 4A, and we’ll need to continue playing our best if we want to accomplish the goals we’ve set for ourselves.”
McPherson will be hosting the 4A Regional meet coming up on Friday. Smoky Valley, Abilene, Chapman, Clay Center, Colby, Concordia, Goodland and Wamego are the rest of the schools competing in McPherson.
