GIRLS TENNIS: Friday, Oct. 2, 2020
Garden City High School’s girls tennis team continued its strong showing in the 2020 fall season on Thursday, Oct. 1, by capturing first place in the Hutchinson Quadrangular.
The Lady Buffs, who are guided by first-year coach Logan Bevis, finished with 16 points while Hutchinson was second with 12, Dodge City third with 11 and Newton with 5 points.
In winning the team title, No. 1 singles player Sage Riggs took first by going 3-0 as did the No. 2 doubles team of Rilee McGraw and Chloe Powell. The No. 2 singles player, Brooke Ptacek, went 2-1 and took second while the No. 1 doubles team of Ashleigh Chappel and Sydney Nanninga also took second.
“It was a good day overall for us,” Bevis said. “We were able to play 2 out of 3 sets which is good preparation for regionals next week.”
Riggs, who has just two match losses this season, was dominant in her three matches, defeating Dodge City’s top player, 6-0, 6-4; Newton, 6-0, 6-1; and then getting her biggest win of the year over Hutchinson’s No. 1 by scores of 6-3, 6-1. Riggs had lost to the same Hutch player a year ago in the regional championship match.
“That was a big win for Sage,” Bevis said. “It’s a big confidence boost.”
McGraw and Powell also swept their three matches, beating Dodge City, 6-3, 6-2; Newton, 6-3, 6-2 and then went to a tiebreak against Hutchinson, winning 6-2, 4-6 and then 10-8 in the tiebreak set.
“Rilee and Chloe played solid all day,” Bevis said.
Ptacek opened with wins over Dodge City, 6-1, 6-3, and Newton, 6-2, 6-1, but lost a tough final match against Hutchinson 7-6 (5) and 6-3. Chappel and Nanninga lost their opening match against Dodge City, 6-3, 6-4; but then bounced back to defeat Newton, 6-2, 6-1, and capped off the day with a stirring 6-3, 3-6 (11-9) tiebreak victory over Hutchinson.
“I’m happy with the way the day went,” Bevis said. “But the girls know we still have our biggest matches in front of us. We will see all the WAC schools, Hutchinson and Campus at the McPherson tournament (Saturday, Oct. 3). There will be many matches with regional seeding implications.”
The final week of the regular season will have the Buffs headed to Liberal on Monday for the WAC where they will defend their 2019 title. Class 6A regionals will be Oct. 9.
Garden City High School 