Harrison second in singles

INDEPENDENCE -- Jennifer Harrison finished second in the No. 1 singles bracket and Fort Scott High's girls finished in fourth place at the Southeast Kansas League Tennis Tournament here Saturday.

Harrison's only loss came to the defending league champion and Class 4A State runner-up, Abbi Groff of Independence, in the finals. Each of the other Tiger entries finished in a position equal to or higher than their seed in their respective brackets.

"The girls have improved and it showed with the way they played during this tournament," Fort Scott head coach Lynn Barr said.

Courtney Crain and Kenna Savage finished fourth in No. 1 doubles. Char Hutchison and Emmah Reeves ended up fourth in No. 2 doubles and Kandice Rost placed fifth in No. 2 singles.

Harrison (16-9) was seeded third in No. 1 singles and opened with an 8-2 victory over Chanute's Rebecca Wendt. She beat Pittsburg's Katy Short in the semifinals, 6-3, 6-4. Groff successfully defended her title with a 6-2, 6-0 win in the finals.

"She played some excellent tennis in this tournament," Barr said. "She had really started to come around in the last couple of weeks and her game is getting stronger and stronger.

"She had lost both of her previous matches against Short this season, but picked a great time to come back and get the win. In the finals against Groff, Jennifer played a very strong first set, winning a lot of points and really playing much closer than the 2-6 score would reflect. But in the second set, Groff was able to pull away. She is a very good player and Jennifer, I believe, learned a lot in this match."

Short went on to finish third with a 6-4, 6-3 sweep of Parsons' Sami Ford in the third-place match.

Savage and Crain (18-7) were the No. 4 seed in No. 1 doubles. They claimed an 8-4 win over Emily Baden/Laikyn Long of Pittsburg in the first round. They were defeated by Chanute's Abby Thurston/ Alexis Liudahl in the semifinals, 6-0, 6-1.

In consolation, Savage and Crain defeated Caitlin Closs/ Paige Smith of Labette County, 8-1, to advance to the third-place match. There, Parsons' Bree Rogers/Kelsey Jump, the defending league champs, took a 6-2, 6-2 sweep.

"They opened with a good solid win against Pittsburg, controlling the match much better than in their last meeting," Barr said. "In the semis they faced the Chanute team which was the No. 1 seed and played like it. Chanute is an excellent team and is playing very good tennis right now.

"We came back with a strong win against LCHS to move into the third place match. The Parsons team was playing very well and really kept us from any kind of consistent ability to attack the net. Kenna and Courtney are playing really good tennis right now. They are both seniors and they are really focused on ending their high school tennis careers in a positive way."

Rogers and Jump were defeated in the other semifinal by Independence's Dee Mendoza/Carrington Julian in three sets. Thuston and Liudahl took the title with a 6-4, 6-0 sweep of the Indy duo.

Hutchison and Reeves (13-14) were seeded sixth in No. 2 doubles and began the tournament by beating third-seeded Jessica Farris/Miquel Wright of Parsons, 8-3. They fell in the semifinal to second-seeded Jenny Angleton/Chelsea Bearrick of Chanute, 6-1, 6-0.

In consolation, Hutchison and Reeves defeated Labette County's Patricia Stevenson/Jackie Wertz, 8-5. The third-place match was a rematch with Farris and Right, which the Parsons duo took, 6-2, 6-2.

"They opened with a great win against the third seed," Barr said. "Their opponent in the semis was a good Chanute team that controlled the net very well, although we did play them much better than we did the last time we faced them.

"They came back with a solid win in their next match to move into the third place match. But this time Parsons came out playing much better and was able to take the match. Char and Emmah though did a great job in this tournament."

Independence's Anna Miller and Alex Keller, the No. 1 seed, won the No. 2 doubles title with a 6-2, 6-1 sweep of Angleton/Bearrick in the final.

Kandice Rost (9-17) was the sixth seed in No. 2 singles. She lost her first two matches, to Pittsburg's Katie Phalen, 8-1, and Chanute's Shelby Stair, 8-2. In the fifth-place match, Rost defeated Labette County's Emily McCouch, 8-1.

"Kandice continues to grind away and play hard for us," Barr said. "She gives us a great effort in every tournament. She really came on strong in the fifth-place match, taking a win over a girl she beat in a tiebreaker two days earlier."

Independence's Tyra Welch, the top seed, won the No. 2 singles bracket with a 6-1, 6-3 sweep of Phalen. Stair and Parsons' Amanda Rogers played for third.

Independence won the team title for the second consecutive season and the 30th time since the sport became an official SEK league activity in 1973. The Bulldogs have won or shared the SEK crown nine of the last 10 seasons.

Chanute finished second behind Thurston and Liudahl's doubles title was Parsons was third, Fort Scott fourth, Pittsburg fifth, Labette County sixth and Coffeyville, which had entries only in No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles, seventh.

The Class 4A Regional Tournament will be held in Parsons this weekend. Play begins at about 10 a.m. Friday morning following a seeding meeting. All of the league schools, except Class 5A Pittsburg, are in the field along with Iola, Columbus, Augusta and El Dorado.