FSHS girls tennis sends 5 to state, takes 2nd at regionals

photo by: Evan Riggs

Free State's Ali Dodd hits a forehand during the third-place doubles match at regionals Saturday in Olathe.

? Without playing Blue Valley Northwest before regionals, Free State junior Ali Dodd said the girls tennis team went into Saturday not knowing what to expect.

Led by Dodd and senior Andrea Chen’s third place finish in doubles, the Firebirds qualified five of their six players for the state tournament and walked away with a regional runner-up plaque.

Sophomore Gabby Gorman and freshman Anna Peard placed sixth in doubles while sophomore Kate Piper placed fifth in singles.

“To have five of our six players qualify (for state) is great,” FSHS interim coach Michael Trujillo said. “To get runner-up at regionals makes me very proud to be their coach.”

After winning their first two matches, Dodd and Chen lost to the Kylee White and Alisa Peinzrux, the No. 1 seed from Blue Valley Northwest, 6-0, 6-0 to set up a third-place match against Olathe East.

Dodd and Chen won the first set easily at 6-3, but had their serve broken in the first game of the second set. But they turned it around in a hurry, and made quick work of Olathe East by winning six consecutive games to close the match.

“We just told each other ‘We have to buckle down,'” Chen said. “It’s been such a long day, we didn’t want to play a tiebreak so we just got our energy right back up and played well.”

Gorman and Peard also lost to Blue Valley Northwest, 6-0, 6-1, which set up an elimination match against senior Natalie Cote and junior Chloe Thornton, of Lawrence High, in the third round.

The young Free State duo won the match 6-0, 6-2 to clinch a spot in the state tournament before losing their next match.

“They were really excited to qualify,” Trujillo said. “To see them fight through adversity and qualify was awesome to see. It showed a lot of maturity for a couple of young players.”

However, Free State wasn’t able to qualify its whole team because its singles players — Piper and Andie Veeder — played in an elimination match. Piper ultimately came out on top 6-1, 6-0 to end Veeder’s season.

After three hard-fought matches, Piper won her last match on a walkover to claim fifth place.

“I’m super proud of the way we played individually and the way our team played,” Dodd said. “We played really hard and had a good day.”

The five Free State qualifiers will have a week of practice before the Class 6A state tournament, which begins Friday at 11:30 a.m. at the Kossover Tennis Center in Topeka.

LHS season over

Cote and Thornton’s loss to Free State ended Lawrence’s season. Coach Chris Marshall felt his team missed some opportunities to make the match closer.

“A lot of those games went to deuce and Free State won those crucial points,” Marshall said. “The serving percentage wasn’t where it needed to be. If we get a few more serves in, I think the match would have been closer.”

Nobody else for the Lions made it out of the opening round, with Nina Givotovski and Caitlynn Kliem losing in the opening round of the singles bracket, and Chisato Kimura and Mia Waters doing the same in doubles.

Class 6A regional

Saturday at College Boulevard Activity Center

Team scores: Blue Valley Northwest 20, Free State 11, Olathe East 10, Olathe South 10, Olathe North 4, Olathe Northwest 1, Lawrence 1, Gardner-Edgerton 0.

LHS results

Singles

Caitlynn Kliem lost to Cady Lynn, OS, 6-0, 6-0.

Nina Givotovski lost to Kate Piper, FSHS, 6-0, 6-1

Doubles

Chisato Kimura/Mia Waters lost 7-5, 6-3

Natalie Cote/Chloe Thornton won 6-1, 6-3; lost to OE, 6-0, 6-0; lost to Gorman/Peard, FSHS, 6-0, 6-2.

Free State results

Singles

Kate Piper def. Nina Givotovski 6-0, 6-1; lost 7-6, 6-2; def. Andie Veeder, FSHS, 6-1, 6-0; def. Kelly Parrisl, BVNW, in walkover.

Andie Veeder def. Nicky Horrey, ONW, 6-3, 6-3; lost to Kate Piper, FSHS, 6-1, 6-0.

Doubles

Ali Dodd/Andrea Chen def. ONW 6-0, 6-0; won 6-0, 6-4; lost to BVNW, 6-0, 6-0; def. OE, 6-3, 6-1.

Gorman and Peard def. OS, 6-0, 6-1; lost 6-0, 6-1; def. Cote/Thornton, LHS, 6-0, 6-2; lost to OS, 7-5, 6-0.