Doubles squads start strong at state

? When De Soto High girls tennis coach Mike Sullivan decided to pair sophomore Rebekah Gulley with freshman Hana Lindbloom earlier this season, all parties involved figured success would find the doubles squad somewhere down the road.

It wasn’t a very long drive.

Already armed with an impressive 25-4 record and a regional title, the duo made quick work of two matches Friday during the opening day of the Class 4A state championships, earning a spot in today’s semifinals and guaranteeing no worse than a fourth-place finish this afternoon at the Kossover Tennis Center.

“It’s just something we didn’t think was going to happen,” Gulley said. “All of our hard work has paid off this year.”

Gulley and Lindbloom opened play Friday with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Andover’s Sheila Sarrafi and Kasey Ellis and needed just a few more games to pin a 6-4, 6-1 loss on Abilene’s Rachel Berry and Bridgette Veal in the quarterfinals.

The solid performance left Sullivan momentarily at a loss for words.

“What can you say?” Sullivan asked rhetorically. “Reaching the semifinals and winning two matches as a freshman and a sophomore?

“They’ve gotten better and better and just learned how to play doubles.”

The youngsters won’t be alone on day two of the tournament. Senior Lauren Hampton guaranteed herself a state medal for the third straight season, winning twice in three singles matches to remain in the hunt for a fifth-place finish. Also still alive is another De Soto doubles pairing, as senior Stephanie Hoover and sophomore Hannah Konetzni won once in three matches and still are in line for a top-10 finish.

Also on track for a shiny memento is another area doubles tandem. However, unlike their Frontier League comrades, Baldwin seniors Katie Beall and Kristen Ferris made things interesting on their run to the semifinals.

The pair needed three sets to knock off Kingman’s Crystal Funke and Allie Osner in the opening round, then, down 4-1 in the third set, rallied to beat Smoky Valley’s Amand Wann and Morgan Hubele, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, in the quarterfinals.

“We have this problem where we like to fall asleep in the second set … and then fight back and win,” Ferris said. “We pretty much just kind of kicked it into gear.”

The Class 6A state tournament is taking place at the same site, and, again, an area doubles team will see second-day action.

After suffering an opening-round loss, Free State senior Andrea Koch and junior Leigh Luina stayed alive with a 9-2 victory over Wichita East’s Natalie Shellito and Carolyn Moore.

The Firebirds duo lost again late Friday night, but still have a shot at a top-10 finish.

“They’re into (Saturday). That’s an accomplishment,” Free State coach Jon Renberger said. “They got a good win, and hopefully they can come back and get two more.”

Free State’s second state entrant – the doubles tandem of senior Joanna Loewen and junior Julia Guard – lost two straight matches to bow out of the tournament.