photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Free State's Eli Ward swings her racket during a tennis match at the 6A Blue Valley North regional tournament on Friday, Oct. 9 2026, in Olathe.

OLATHE — Free State’s Eli Ward won her second regional tennis championship on Friday, setting the sophomore up to defend her singles state title.

“I’m very happy to be back in season,” Ward said. “I feel like I’ve had a good start to my season so far, and I hope I can continue going with it through state.”

Ward and the Firebirds competed alongside the Lawrence tennis team in the Blue Valley North 6A regional in Olathe, but Ward was the lone representative from either school to punch her ticket to the state tournament next week. For two young teams, the results were understandable and can be a real motivator for next season.

“The more competitions they got, the more developed their game became,” Free State coach Aaron Clark said. “Their levels started to raise each time. Last week there were some struggles for some of them, but then this week they bounced back and competed. I believe that they can win.”

Ward started with a first-round bye as the No. 1 seed in the region and won her first match against Olathe West’s Hailey Martin in two sets, winning 6-0 both times. Ward then beat Blue Valley West’s Srihitha Ananthaneni 6-0 in both sets. Ward faced Olathe Northwest’s Ada Smith in the semifinal match and beat Smith in two sets without dropping a game.

In the regional championship match, Ward did her thing once again, beating Blue Valley North’s Penelope Reed by taking every game.

It was a perfect day for Ward, who has had a lot of such days in her two-year Free State career. Winning every game and taking the regional championship sets her up well for the state tournament. Clark noted her lack of errors throughout the day and particularly in the championship match as the key to her success.

“She did her thing, which she’s done her entire high school career,” Clark said. “She played at a really high level, especially in the championship match.”

Free State’s No. 2 singles player Faith Hansen nearly punched her ticket to the state tournament, but she ultimately fell short in the qualifier match.

Hansen had a first-round bye and won her first match against Gardner Edgerton’s Adison Schroeder in two sets: 6-2, 6-3. Hansen fell to Olathe Northwest’s Seraphine Besong in the third-round match in two 6-0 sets.

The loss put Hansen in the qualifier match against Blue Valley West’s Angie Wang. After Wang took the first set 6-1, Hansen won 6-2 on the second set. Wang won the final set 6-3 before going on to finish sixth in the regional.

“That third set was kind of a tossup,” Clark said. “Hopefully that match motivates her going forward. She had a great day overall.”

Lawrence’s top singles player Kingston Jacobs received a first-round bye before losing her first match to Blue Valley North’s Prisha Dalal in two sets. Fellow Lion Ella Lem lost her first-round match 8-2.

Free State’s top doubles team of Hina Tamura and Maya Friedman received a first-round bye but lost their first match against Blue Valley West’s Maya Mitchell and Samhitha Karavadi in two sets. The first set was a close 7-6 battle, but the Jaguar duo won the second set 6-3.

“Our doubles had some tough draws coming in, but they competed well,” Clark said. “Maybe they didn’t get the outcome they wanted, but they competed well.”

Fellow Firebirds Hope Hansen and Caroline Davis faced Lawrence’s Lily Baldridge and Lucy Miller-Coleman in the first round, and the Firebirds prevailed 8-0 to move onto the second round. The Firebirds lost their second-round match against Blue Valley West’s Chandana Vijaykumar and Siena Timperley 6-0 in both sets.

Lawrence’s doubles team of Makayla Denton and Emma Over received a first-round bye but lost 6-0 in both sets against Blue Valley North’s Maya Finkle and Lana Grewal.

Ward will be in Wichita next Friday and Saturday at the Riverside Tennis Complex for the 6A state tournament, where she will defend her singles title from a season ago.

“(Winning state) would be the cherry on top of everything this season so far,” Ward said. “I’m loving all the people and everything, so this would just be the cherry.”

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Free State’s Faith Hansen swings the racket during the 6A Blue Valley North regional tennis tournament on Friday, Oct. 9, 2026, in Olathe.