CHANUTE — Hosting the Chanute Invitational on Monday, the Chanute Blue Comets girls tennis squad took first place with an undefeated 16-0 mark. Its second team, the Blue team, finished in third place with a 9-7 mark.
“This was the makeup meet originally scheduled for August 29. It was canceled then because of the extreme heat that we had that day,” Chanute head coach Michael DeLaTorre said. “But we were blessed with beautiful weather today, and we were fortunate to have two teams in this tournament.”
Ella Guernsey was 4-0 in No. 1 singles for Chanute, defeating Madison McClanahan of Neodesha, Lucy Pearson of Labette County, Bethany Miller of Iola and teammate Sarah Uhner.
“Ella just rolled through the meet and dominated at No. 1 singles, losing only one game throughout the day,” DeLaTorre said. “She continues to show patience and consistency in her game, which will win her a lot of matches in the future.”
Sarah Uhner went 3-1, defeating McLanahan, Miller and Pearson.
Leah Burnett was perfect at No. 2 singles, defeating Neodesha’s Savannah Kelly, Labette counties Amelia Carnahan, Iola’s Melanie Palmer and teammate Brilynn Ward.
Ward went 2-2, with wins over Kelly and Palmer and losses to Carnahan and Burnett.
At No. 1 doubles, Chanute’s Rylee Smith and Jacqueline Smooth took down Rose Imhoff and Abby White of Neodesha, Madison Bevans and Hannah Benson of Labette County, Kyndal Bycroft and Harper Desmarteau of Iola and Chanute’s Averee Hicks and Willow Vaughn.
“They struggled through their first match against Neodesha, and they were not happy at all with their play, although they won,” DeLaTorre said. “Their coach wasn’t happy with their play either, and we discussed what needed to be done to turn things around. They figured it out, and they dominated in their last three matches.”
Hicks and Vaughn went 1-3, with the lone victory coming against Imhoff and White.
At No. 2 doubles, Chanute’s Ashtyn Cummings and Kanika Marcoux defeated Neodesha’s Harper Burgell and Kate West, Labette Countyus Audrey Belknap and Bethany Merrick, Iola’s Marlee Westhoff and Madelyln Ashworth and Chanute’s Paige Kueser and Rylee Dent.
Dent and Kueser won three and lost one, with the lone loss coming to Hicks and Vaughn.
“I’m also very proud of sophomore Brilynn Ward and freshman Rylee Dent, who played in their first ever varsity meets of their young careers,” De-LaTorre said. “Although a little nervous at the start, they quickly adapted to the varsity level and played some great tennis throughout the day.”
Labette County was second in the team standings with 10 wins, followed by Chanute Blue (9), Iola (4) and Neodesha (1).
