INDEPENDENCE — Taking second place on the road, the Chanute Blue Comets again looked impressive at a girls tennis tournament in Independence on Thursday.
Independence won the tournament with 14 wins, followed by Chanute (12), Fort Scott (9), Pittsburg (3) and Iola (2).
At No. 1 singles, Chanute’s Ella Guernsey went 2-2 with wins over Hayden Turnbull of Pittsburg and Bethany Miller of Iola but losses to Abbie Gorman of Fort Scott and Independence’s Ava Morris.
“Ella lost to two of the best singles players in the state in Abbie Gorman of Fort Scott and Ava Morris of Independence,” Chanute head coach Michael DeLaTorre said. “Despite the losses, she played great tennis with a lot of consistency and patience.”
Leah Burnett went a perfect 4-0 in No. 2 singles, racing by Danica Patrick of Fort Scott, Melanie Palmer of Iola, Addison Broxterman of Pittsburg and Sadie York of Independence.
“Like Ella, she played with great consistency and patience,” DeLaTorre said. “What I’m most excited about is how both Ella and Leah have improved on shot selection and especially shot placement, which will help them both as we head towards postseason play.”
Rylee Smith and Jacqueline Smoot went 3-1 at No. 1 doubles, with their lone loss coming to Indepencence’s Callie Schlorholtz and Brooklyn Mattix. Smith and Smoot defeated Fort Scott’s Kinsley Brown and Cadence Hunziker, Iola’s Kyndal Bycroft and Harper Desmarteau, and Pittsburg’s Alexa Salas and Emily Shriver.
“Rylee and Jacqueline just seem to get better and gel more as a team each tournament,” DeLaTorre said. “They have improved in every part of their games, including serve, return of serve, shot selection, shot placement. I’m confident and excited knowing that they will continue to get better as the season progresses.”
Ashtyn Cummings and Kanika Marcoux went 3-1 at No. 2 doubles for Chanute, with the lone loss coming to Caroline Barnes and Annabelle Gorman of Fort Scott. Cummings and Marcoux earned wins over Madelyn Ashworth and Marlee Westhoff of Iola, Skylar Correll and Makayla DeLuna of Pittsburg and Hadley Sasse and Morgan McLenon of Independence.
“After some talking after that first match, they turned things around, played some great tennis, won their next three matches earning them the second place medals,” DeLa-Torre said.
Up next
Chanute heads to Baldwin on Wednesday before hosting a tournament on Thursday.
