Going up against what coach Melinda Flohr called “some of the top talent in the state,” the Emporia High girls tennis team finished fourth out of five teams at its home invitational Saturday.
The Lady Spartans finished with four points, enough to finish ahead of Lawrence (1), while Blue Valley Northwest took the team title with 15 points, St. Thomas Aquinas had 12 and Maize finished with eight.
“Three teams out of the five that were there are going to be top-five team finishers at State at the end of the season,” Flohr said. “We were playing some very tough competition.”
The top finisher for EHS was sophomore Jordan Sosa at the No. 2 singles spot. Sosa finished the day with a 2-2 record and placed third.
After losing her opening match to Blue Valley Northwest’s Courtney Hendricksen, 8-1, Sosa bounced back with victories over Yoshika Crider of Lawrence, 8-5, and Zoie Young of Maize, 8-6. Sosa closed out her day with an 8-0 loss to Katie Krim of St. Thomas Aquinas.
At the No. 1 singles spot, Whitney Page had a rough go of things, dropping all four matches on the day.
“Whitney drew the toughest placement,” Flohr said. “She had to go up against everyone’s top player, and that’s not easy.”
At No. 1 doubles, Amanda Roberts and Sarah Watkins finished with a 1-3 record. Their victory came against a team from Lawrence, 8-4, in the second match of the day.
Kaitlin Pedersen and Rose Nasrazadani also finished with a 1-3 record at No. 2 doubles, picking up their victory over a pair from Lawrence as well, 8-3.
“We had a lot of matches that, score-wise, looked pretty lopsided,” Flohr said. “What we were looking for — and knowing what we were up against — we were looking for competitiveness, and I definitely saw that out of them.
“We weren’t too far from having a lot more success score-wise against some of those teams.”
Emporia Invitational
Saturday at Emporia High
Team Scores
1. Blue Valley Northwest 15, 2. St. Thomas Aquinas 12, 3. Maize 8, 4. Emporia 4, 5. Lawrence 1
No. 1 Singles
Sophie Kuchynka, BVNW, def. Whitney Page, EMP, 8-1; Lucy Liu, LAW, def. Page, 8-4; Tiffany Khauusoundath, M, def. Page, 8-1; Erin Jolley, STA, def. Page, 8-2.
No. 2 Singles
Courtney Hendricksen, BVNW, def. Jordan Sosa, EMP, 8-1; Sosa def. Yoshika Crider, LAW, 8-5; Sosa def. Zoie Young, M, 8-6; Katie Krim, STA, def. Sosa, 8-0.
No. 1 Doubles
Jensen/Aulgur, BVNW, def. Amanda Roberts/Sarah Watkins, EMP, 8-4; Roberts/Watkins def. Vickers/Simmons, LAW, 8-4; Fawcett/Deterding, M, def. Roberts/Watkins, 8-3; DeKoning/Jara, STA, def. Roberts/Watkins, 8-0.
No. 2 Doubles
Travers/Melookaran, BVNW, def. Kaitlin Pedersen/Rose Nasrazadani, EMP, 8-2; Pedersen/Nasrazadani def. Payne/Chen, LAW, 8-3; Decker/Stovall, M, def. Pedersen/Nasrazadani, 8-2; Porter/Murphy, STA, def. Pedersen/Nasrazadani, 8-1.