photo by: Photo courtesy Aaron Clark

Cami Lee poses with her ninth-place award at the 6A state tennis tournament at Harmon Park Tennis Complex in Prairie Village on Saturday, October 19.

The Kansas 6A state tennis tournament at the Harmon Park Tennis Complex in Prairie Village, which concluded Saturday, featured two Free State High School girls, with junior Cami Lee placing ninth in the tournament.

Lee and Annie Pilakowski were the two Firebirds who qualified for the tournament. Pilakowski, who entered as the No. 22-ranked singles player, finished her season with a 1-2 record in the tournament. She lost her first match 6-4, 6-2 against sophomore Prisha Dalal from Blue Valley North, but won her second match 8-4 against Derby junior Elizabeth Boline. Pilakowski ended with an 8-2 loss to sophomore Hannah Micheel from Junction City.

Over the course of the tournament, Lee compiled a 5-2 record to earn ninth place. She started with a win over Garden City senior Danica Galia (6-4, 6-0), but lost to Shawnee Mission East senior Ishya Bhavsar. Lee then won two straight, beating Haysville Campus senior Jacilyn Seachris (8-0) and Dalal from Blue Valley North (8-6). Lee lost to Olathe Northwest junior Heidi Baillos 8-5 to move to the ninth-place bracket.

There, she defeated Junction City’s Micheel 8-6 to move to the ninth-place match, in which she defeated junior Madelynne Abel from Blue Valley Northwest 8-6. For placing ninth, she scored six points and put the Firebirds at 12th in the team rankings.

Aside from Free State, Perry-Lecompton sent one singles player, Sophie Scrimsher, to the 4A state tournament, and she finished 11th in the singles tournament. After starting 1-1, she won her next two matches to move to the ninth-place bracket. A loss there moved her to the 11th-place match, which she won 8-1.

Scrimsher scored four points for her school, giving Perry-Lecompton 14th place in the state tournament.