With the competition that the Emporia High tennis team has faced lately, wins have been few and far between.
On Tuesday, the Spartans finally met some teams on their level — and in their league — and they combined to go 8-6 at the Washburn Rural meet, finishing seventh out of nine teams.
“I have felt all season long like we have played pretty well, but we haven’t gotten a lot of wins on the season,” EHS coach Melinda Flohr said. “It was nice to have a day where we ended up getting some wins.”
Nancy Delgado, Emporia’s No. 1 singles player, and the team’s No. 1 doubles tandem of Brooke Gutierrez and Danielle Anliker both finished in sixth place in the meet.
Delgado opened the meet with an 8-6 win over Washburn Rural’s Emily Madden. Delgado lost 8-0 to Seaman’s Lisa Grause and bounced back to win 8-0 against Elisa Rombold. In Delgado’s fifth-place match, she lost 8-3 to Shawnee Heights’ Morgan Hines.
Gutierrez and Anliker beat Wamego’s doubles team 8-2 and picked up a win against Garden City, 8-4. Gutierrez and Anliker lost to Hayden 8-2 and lost their fifth-place match to Junction City 6-4.
Chloe Blake, playing No. 2 singles, lost her opening match to Washburn Rural’s Gabriella Hirsch. Blake bounced back to win her final two matches, beating Rural’s Shelby Townsend, 8-0, and Garden City’s Aimee Brandt, 8-4.
Emporia’s No. 2 doubles team of Holly Kraft and Noelle Waters also lost their first match, 8-6, to Washburn Rural, and then bounced back to win their final two matches. Kraft and Waters beat a second Washburn Rural team 8-4 and then beat Topeka West 8-2.
Waters had been playing singles, but Flohr switched around her lineup on Tuesday to make sure her players do not play in too many meets — they’re only allowed to play in eight.
Washburn Rural won the meet with 52 points, followed by Hayden in second place with 37. Emporia finished with 18 points.
“Overall, I was very pleased with how we played today,” Flohr said. “We had an opportunity to see some of the schools in our league and see how we matched up with them, and that was a good thing for us, to see where we align with other teams that are in our league.”
Tuesday at Washburn Rural
Team results
Washburn Rural 52 points; Hayden 37; Seaman 36; Shawnee Heights 35; Topeka West 29; Junction City 29; Emporia 18; Garden City 12; Wamego 10.