photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Lawrence's Lily Baldridge aims high for the tennis ball in the Topeka High Tennis Invitational on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Topeka.

TOPEKA — Lawrence girls tennis spent all day at Kossover Tennis Center in Topeka for the 2026 Topeka High Invitational, where the Lions saw nine other teams from across the state.

“It’s the first big all-day tournament we’ve had all season,” Lawrence coach Stephen Hudson said. “We played teams we don’t always play all the time. It’s valuable to do that. (We played) a wide variety of skill levels, and that gave us good match experience.”

Lawrence has a young group this year, and even for the returners, they are in new positions with new teammates. The newness of the group made the reps that the team got in the tournament valuable as the Lions figure themselves out.

Kingston Jacobs competed in the No. 1 singles bracket and finished 2-2 on the day. Jacobs started with pool play, where she went 1-2. After an 8-0 loss to Emporia’s Izabella Hinst, Jacobs got her first win in an 8-5 victory over Shawnee Heights’s Tanesia Johnson. Jacobs lost 8-5 against Olathe East’s Lillian Curry to end pool play.

“(Olathe East) was a great match… she didn’t even need coaching,” Hudson said. “She managed the match all by herself.”

The 1-2 record put Jacobs in the fifth-place match, which she won 8-0 over Topeka’s Kate Raymond.

Elena Ivanov competed at No. 2 singles for Lawrence and went 2-2 as well. Ivanov lost 8-4 in her first pool-play match against Emporia’s Landon Werly, but Ivanov bounced back with an 8-0 win over Highland Park’s Kaila Kinmon. An 8-2 loss to Olathe East’s Jillian Clark put Ivanov in the fifth-place match among No. 2 singles.

In that match, Ivanov faced Washington Southeast’s Adalyn Nguyen and won handily, 8-0. The freshman impressed her coach in how she competed against challenging opponents in a new environment.

“She’s used to middle school tennis, so this is a shock to go to a high level all of a sudden,” Hudson said. “She needs to get some weapons and develop some power to her game, but she’s really consistent, and she’s a battler out there.”

Lawrence’s Emma Over and Ella Lem held down the No. 1 doubles team for Lawrence and finished the day without a win. While the results weren’t there, Hudson said the team “learned how to play doubles today.”

“They learned how to play as far as moving, working as a team, bonding and playing better,” Hudson said. “Doubles is different than singles. You’re trying to volley all the time. You’re trying to intercept balls. In singles, you’re just trying to keep the ball back and forth.”

Both Over and Lucy Miller-Coleman, of the No. 2 doubles team, were Lawrence’s singles players last season, and the two are picking up the movement and skills of doubles.

The Lions lost 8-4 in their first pool-play match against Troy and lost 8-1 to Olathe East in the following match. Topeka West’s doubles team won 8-3 in the third round of pool play, and Emporia won 8-2 over Lawrence in the fourth round.

Lawrence’s No. 2 doubles team of Miller-Coleman and Lily Baldridge went 1-3 on the day with similar growth as the Lions’ top doubles team.

“They haven’t had a ton of win-loss success this year so far, so I put them as the No. 2 to hopefully build some confidence going forward the rest of the year, and it was a really good day for them.”

The Lions lost 8-1 to Topeka West in the first round and lost 8-2 to Emporia in the second. The Lions managed to come back and force a tiebreaker against Olathe East in the third round, but the Hawks eventually pulled out a 7-3 tiebreaker win.

Lawrence got the win in the final round of pool play, as the duo defeated Shawnee Height’s team 8-2.

Baldridge and Miller-Colemans’ results might be the most apparent in showing growth and improvement throughout the day, but Hudson said the entire team did the same. With four matches for each player or team, Hudson saw the Lions take in coaching and immediately put it toward the next match.

“It’s like a great practice session all day long,” Hudson said. “By the time the third and fourth matches rolled around, it was kind of sinking in what we were talking about. By the fourth match, they learned some more techniques and strategies, and I think everybody played their best in their fourth match.”

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Lawrence’s Elena Ivanov swings the racket in the Topeka High Tennis Invitational on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Topeka.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Lawrence’s Lily Baldridge returns a serve in the Topeka High Tennis Invitational on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Topeka.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Lawrence’s Lucy Miller-Coleman swings the racket in the Topeka High Tennis Invitational on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Topeka.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Lawrence’s Kingston Jacobs eyes the ball in the Topeka High Tennis Invitational on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Topeka.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Lawrence’s Kingston Jacobs returns a volley in the Topeka High Tennis Invitational on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Topeka.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Lawrence’s Ella Lem eyes the ball in the Topeka High Tennis Invitational on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Topeka.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Lawrence’s Ella Lem swings on a serve in the Topeka High Tennis Invitational on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Topeka.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Lawrence’s Emma Over gets low for the ball in the Topeka High Tennis Invitational on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Topeka.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Lawrence’s Lucy Baldridge eyes the ball in the Topeka High Tennis Invitational on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Topeka.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Lawrence’s Lucy Miller-Coleman swings through a hit in the Topeka High Tennis Invitational on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Topeka.