By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Brad Johnston's first Class 6A girls regional tennis tournament as Washburn Rural's head coach was a great one, with the Junior Blues qualifying their entire team for next week's state tournament while taking home the regional team championship.
Washburn Rural seniors Meredith Kucera (left) and Kate Fritz won a Class 6A regional doubles title Friday at Kossover Tennis Center, leading the Junior Blues to the regional team title. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Rural seniors Kate Fritz and Meredith Kucera led the way with the regional doubles title while senior Hailey Beck and junior Claire Ireland added a third-place doubles finish and junior Mena Di Marzio and senior Kayla Peter added third and fourth-place finishes in singles.
"I've got to love first year and we come in and we get all four (entries) in the semifinals and it's the girls, it's not me,'' Johnston said. "It's all what they put the work in doing and it's the time they spend on the court outside of what I do.''
Fritz and Kucera followed up Monday's Centennial League doubles title with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Topeka High seniors Haley Carpenter and Adisyn Caryl in Friday's regional final as the Junior Blues avenged their one-point loss to Manhattan in the league meet with a one-point regional team win over the Indians (21-20).
Beck and Ireland dropped a 6-3, 6-2 semifinal decision to Fritz and Kucera in the semifinals but bounced back to take third with a 6-1, 6-3 decision over Manhattan while DiMarzio and Peter finished third and fourth place in singles after both players dropped semifinal matches to Manhattan.
"Our (No. 2) doubles team, this is the first matches they got to play and No. 1 doubles is rolling right now and everybody feels like they're kind of hitting their peak,'' Johnston said.
Topeka High also had plenty to celebrate Friday, with freshman Madeline Deters and junior McCall Beall finishing fifth and sixth in singles to join Caryl and Carpenter as state qualifiers.
Deters took a 6-2, 6-4 decision over teammate Beall in the fifth-place match as Topeka High finished third as a team with 11 points.
"It was a great day,'' Topeka High coach Duane Pomeroy said. "By getting to the final the doubles team gets a first-round bye at state, which is big. Our singles players had four strong singles players above them and they're going to finish at their seeds, at five and six.''
Caryl is a four-time state qualifier while Carpenter will be competing in her third state meet and Beall making her second state appearance.
The 6A state tournament will be played at Wichita's Riverside Tennis Complex, with first-round matches getting under way at 10:30 a.m. on Friday.
CLASS 6A REGIONAL GIRLS TENNIS
At Kossover Tennis Center
Team scores
Washburn Rural 21, Manhattan 20, Topeka High 11, Junction City 3, Derby 2, Wichita East 1.
Individual results
Singles
Semifinals -- Harkin, Manhattan, def. Peter, Washburn Rural, 6-0, 6-0; Wiens, Manhattan, def. DiMarzio, Washburn Rural, 7-5, 6-1.
Championship -- Harkin, Manhattan, def. Wiens, Manhattan, 6-0, 6-0.
Third -- DiMarzio, Washburn Rural, def. Peter, Washburn Rural, NA.
Fifth -- Deters, Topeka High, def. Beall, Topeka High, 6-2, 6-4.
Doubles
Semifinals -- Fritz/Kucera, Washburn Rural, def. Beck/Ireland, Washburn Rural, 6-3, 6-2; Carpenter/Caryl, Topeka High, def. Craft/Robinson, Manhattan, 6-2, 6-1.
Championship -- Fritz/Kucera, Washburn Rural, def. Carpenter/Caryl, Topeka High, 6-0, 6-2.
Third -- Beck/Ireland, Washburn Rural, def. Craft/Robinson, Manhattan, 6-1, 6-3.
Fifth -- Zhang/Evangelidis, Manhattan, def. Stanislow/Harris, Junction City, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
