INDEPENDENCE — Parsons and Labette County will each have one representative at state following the KSHSAAA 4A Girls Tennis Regional Tournament in Independence over the weekend.
Lucy Pearson of Labette County and Kadence Ball of Parsons both qualified in singles at the loaded regional.
Independence won the regional title on their home court, registering 14 points. Winfield was runner-up with 13 points, followed by Wellington (9), Chanute (7), Fort Scott (5), Parsons (4), Labette County (2), Coffeyville (0) and Iola (0). The top four teams are all ranked in the top six of Class 4A.
Ball finished in fourth place in singles for Parsons. The senior defeated Julia Solorazano, 6-0, 6-0, and Sareah Veile of Independence, 6-1, 6-3, to advance to the semifinals.
There, Ball fell to Winfield’s Sophia Heger, 6-1, 6-0. Ball then lost to Chanute’s Ella Guernsey, 6-0, 6-0, in the third place match.
“Kadence got the No. 4 seed and I was a little disappointed in how the third place match went,” Parsons head coach Jane Posch said. “But Guernsey is a really good player. We’re pretty happy Kadence gets to go to state in this tough regional. This is the toughest regional I’ve ever seen in 25 years with nine teams here and two potential state champions. It was a really tough region.”
Pearso, who finished sixth, defeated Independence’s Dylan Schnurbusch, 6-4, 6-0 before losing to Guernsey, 6-1, 6-0.
Playing for a berth to state, Pearson took down Sarah Uhner of Chanute, 6-0, 0-6, 6-3 in a three-set thriller before falling to Veile, 6-1, 6-0, in the fifth-place match.
Parsons’ other best shot to make state, the doubles duo of Tenlee Kennett and Heidi Shultz, fell one match shy of a berth.
Kennett and Shultz defeated Norah Wolf and Macy White of Winfield, 6-0, 6-2, before falling to Cruz Cornejo and Logan Robinson of Wellington, 6-1, 6-2.
The Parsons duo then faced J.J. Smoot and Leah Burnett with a state bid on the line and lost, 6- 4, 6-2.
“They weren’t too shabby in this tough regional, we just got in a bad part of the draw,” Posch said. “We could’ve slid in. But that happens with our record. They had a good tournament. It just didn’t go the way they would’ve liked.”
Winfield’s Sophia Heger defeated Mitina in the singles championship in three sets, while Brooklyn mattix and Morgan McLenon of Independence beat Wellington’s Cornejo and Robinson in the doubles title match via medical default.
Up next
Ball and Pearsons head to the KSHSAA 4A Girls Tennis Championships at Harmon Park in Prairie Village near Kansas City.
“We’ve got all these new teams in the class, so we’ll see how she stands,” Posch said. “We’ll see if (Kadence) gets in the top 12. State is really loaded. If she gets in the right draw, she can medal.”
Lucy Pearson (above) of Labette County and Kadence Ball (below) of Parsons compete in singles matches as the KSHSAA 4A Regional Tournament in Independence on Saturday. Both players qualified for the state tournament. Sean Frye/Sun photo
