Topeka Hayden nets victory against Lions

? Topeka Hayden was the only obstacle preventing Lawrence High’s boys tennis team from sweeping its season opener Tuesday afternoon at the Emporia Quadrangular.

The Lions beat Ottawa, 3-1, and Emporia, 3-1, but the LHS No. 2 doubles team of senior Tyler Lewis and sophomore Rahul Gogineni picked up the only win in a 3-1 loss to Hayden.

“We competed very well with Ottawa and Emporia, but Hayden has the strongest and deepest team I’ve seen from them,” LHS coach Dick Wedel said.

LHS senior Scott Elwell, fifth last year at the Class 6A state tournament, lost a tough match to Hayden’s Sean McManus, who was runner-up in 4A last year.

“Scott did not have his ‘A’ game today. Today it was his ‘E’ day,” Wedel said. “Unforced errors were his plague.”