HHS tennis places sixth at MCAA league meet at Hesston
Hillsboro High School girls' varsity tennis team traveled Saturday to compete in the MCAA league meet at Hesston.
Of the 10 schools competing at the league meet, Wichita Collegiate placed first with 88 points, Lyons and Ellinwood tied for second with 60, Hesston placed fifth with 54, Hillsboro placed sixth with 47, Hoisington placed seventh with 40, Sterling placed eighth with 23, Nickerson placed ninth with 11, and Haven placed 10th with seven.
In No. 1 doubles of Flight A, the Hillsboro duo of Erin Wiebe and Lora Andrews placed fifth. They lost the first round to Rugeiro and Hubele of Smoky Valley 6-4, 6-1. In the second round, Wiebe and Andrews defeated Schneider and Roach of Sterling 9-1. In their final match for fifth place, the duo defeated Weaver and Boese of Hesston 9-5.
"Although they struggled their first round, they won their second round easily and played very well in their final round to defeat Hesston," Coach Lynn Wiebe said.
"This was a great win for us," she added.
Coach Wiebe was referring to Hillsboro defeating the Hesston duo who have won first place in several tournaments this year.
"We played well at the net, threw in a few lobs that caused some errors on their part, and closed the match off well," she said.
In No. 2 doubles of Flight A, Kelsey Kaufman and Amanda Faber won their first round against Cox and Blanks of Smoky Valley 6-2, 7-5. They lost the second round to Fryberger and Elliot of Ellinwood 6-2, 6-2, and lost their final match to Montgomery and Kerr of Lyons 6-1, 6-1 and placed fourth.
"I was very pleased with their first round match. They defeated a very respectable Smoky Valley team," Coach Wiebe said.
In their final two matches they just made some strategic errors against some very good teams."
In No. 1 singles competition, Emily Railsback won her first round against Johnson of Sterling 9-1, but lost the second round to Beehler of Collegiate 6-0, 6-0. Railsback went on to win her third round against Miller of Ellinwood 9-2. She lost her final match to Bates of Hoisington 9-1 to take sixth place.
"Emily hit the ball hard and even in her toughest matches, she moved the ball well," Coach Wiebe said.
In No. 2 singles, Danielle Hagen lost her first match against Haddon of Ellinwood. Hagen lost the first game 6-1, but came back to win the second 7-5 and lost the third 6-1. She won her second match against Diener of Sterling 9-7, but lost her final match against Urban of Hoisington 9-2 and took sixth place.
"Danielle moves the ball really well at times, "Coach Wiebe said. "She can play with about anybody; however, she continues to struggle with closing out a match."
Reviewing the day, Coach Wiebe felt good about the team's results.
"Certainly, I would have liked the team to finish higher; however, my realistic goal for the day was to finish in the middle or top half," Wiebe said.
Wiebe said the teams in the league our powerhouses in tennis both in 3A and 4A.
"It was exciting for us to be able to compete at the level this year," Wiebe said. "Everybody played for at least fifth or better in their respective flights."
The varsity team will host the regional tennis meet at 8 a.m. Monday at the Hillsboro Sports Complex.
