Dragons take second at tourney

The Pittsburg High School girl’s tennis team capped off their regular season with a second-place team showing at the Southeast Kansas League tournament on Saturday at Pittsburg State University.

The Dragons finished second in every bracket with the exception of No. 1 doubles, where Sammy Highfield and Ashton Born were third.

“Our girls were so impressive,” said PHS head coach John Seal. “Two of the girls played some of the finest singles I have ever seen.”

Erin Farmer started the tournament by knocking off Alahna Broadway of Labette County, 8-2.
She followed up with a win over Chapman of Coffeyville to earn a spot in the finals.

“Erin’s three-set win in the semifinals was great tennis,” Seal said.

There, she met up with Porter of Independence and fell in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4.

No. 2 singles player Sara Verga, who entered the tournament with a 25-2 record, won her first game 8-2 and earned a spot in the finals with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Shaw of Parsons in the semifinals.

She took on Higer of Independence and won the first set 6-2, but fell in the last two sets 6-0, 6-2 to place second overall.

“Sara played well all day,” Seal said. “She had a great win over Shaw of Parsons and her three-set final was high-level as well.”

At No. 1 doubles, Highfield and Born were 8-11 coming into the league championship and lost their first-round match to Kyla Smith and Katie Anderson of Labette County, 8-4.

However, they battled back through the loser’s bracket and defeated Ely and Churning of Chanute 8-1 and Barrett and Shockey of Coffeyville 8-4 before losing to Smith and Anderson, whom they lost to in the first round, from Labette County, 6-2, 6-3 to place fourth in the bracket.

“They (Highfield and Born) came to play and had a great win against Coffeyville to get to play for third,” Seal said.

Lindsay Collar and Chapril Stewart were 18-5 coming into the No. 2 doubles bracket on Saturday.

They started with an opening-round win over Kelli Kietzman and Chelsea Shultz of Labette County, 8-1.

That was followed up with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Henes and Holeman of Coffeyville, setting the stage for a final’s match.

There, however, Stewart and Collar ran into top-seeded sisters, K. Mayes and S. Mayes of Independence and lost 6-1, 6-0 to finish second in the tournament.

“They were awesome against Coffeyville and dominated the Labette County team that finished third,” Seal said.

For the Dragons, the second-place team finish was the highest in school history.

“The girls deserve all the credit,” Seal said. “They are the finest individuals that I have ever coached.”

Now, Pittsburg will split and send PHS players to Kansas City for the Class 5A regional tournament Thursday and Colgan players will play in the Class 2-1A regional, also on Thursday.

Matthew Clark can be reached at matthew.clark@morningsun.net or at 620-231-2600, Ext. 140.

Girl’s tennis
Southeast Kansas League Tournament
at Pittsburg State
Team results — 1. Independence 36, 2. Pittsburg 26, 3. Parsons 22, 4. Labette County 19, 5. Coffeyville 17, 6. Iola 13, 7. Chanute 11, 8. Fort Scott 4, 9. Columbus 0.