WICHITA, Kan. – Facing their toughest competition of the season at the Wichita Collegiate Tournament of Champions on Saturday, the McPherson girls tennis team finished in 8th place overall.
Matches took place all around Sedgwick County at Wichita Collegiate School, Kapaun-Mt. Carmel and the Andover Tennis Complex at Andover Central. The tournament featured teams from all four classes. Collegiate won the meet with 122 points ahead over Blue Valley North in second with 107.
The day started with the teams waiting out the rain in the morning. Once play began, the Bullpups were ready.
The #1 Doubles team of Quinn Liebl and Avery Unruh led the way again for McPherson. After an 8-5 opening round win over competitors from Collegiate, they fell in the second round to Washburn Rural 8-5. The pair would not lose the rest of the day. They picked up an 8-4 win over Maize South, then won 8-3 over Independent. In the 9th Place match, Liebl and Unruh defeated Veile and McClenon of Independent 8-2, finishing 4-1 on the day.
Dragon Rodriguez and Lleyton Kuhn finished 2-3 and in 20th place in a tough draw in doubles. They fell in their first match to Blue Valley Northwest but picked up two straight wins over Andover and Collegiate opponents. They fell in the first round back side semis to Maize South and then lost a tough battle for 19th place against Primm and Charney of Andover Central to finish the day.
Mayson Wiens finished 10th place on the day in singles for McPherson. She went 3-2 overall, opening with an 8-1 win over Shultz of Parsons. In the second round, she fell to Reed over Blue Valley North, moving to the back side. Her next two matches were identical 8-5 wins over Garzon of Maize and Younger from Collegiate. In the 9th Place match, Wiens lost to Ada Tantemsomboon of Andover 8-2.
McKenna Paul also went 3-2 in the singles bracket and finished in 19th place. She lost her opening match to Judkins of Kapaun-Mt. Carmel. She bounced back with two straight wins, shutting out Jones of Parsons in her second match and the an 8-2 win over Taton of Maize South. She fell in the first round back side semis to Youngers of Maize, but finished the day with an 8-5 win over Heidi Shultz of Parsons.
“In a field this deep, you’re hoping to get through the day around .500 or better, and every one of our girls was able to do that while also pickup up some important wins along the way,” said coach Tyler Brown.
The McPherson varsity team had little time to rest as they were back on the court Monday for their makeup of the Maize Tournament and then will compete again on Tuesday at Goddard.
