Fort Scott tennis takes third at Pittsburg

Saturday, September 26, 2009

PITTSBURG, Kan. -- Fort Scott High School's tennis team finished third in a five-team round-robin tournament Thursday. Both doubles teams fared especially well with the No. 1 team finishing second and the No. 2 team taking third place.

Michelle Buntain and Taylor Bailey were 3-1 on the day. Their lone loss came in their first match, an 8-4 verdict against Pittsburg's Shelby Trimble and Reagan Gilmore by an 8-4 score. Their victories came against Lakyn Baughman/Lora Nance of Labette County, 8-3, Kellie Wolf/Jasmine Bannister of Iola, 8-5, and Kelsey Hill/Shaylee Thomas of Columbus, 8-7 (10-8).

"Taylor and Michelle played some of the best tennis they have played all season," Fort Scott head coach Lynn Barr said. "They eliminated some of the unforced errors that have been hurting them and although they still went through some peaks and valleys in their level of play it was more consistent today. I am really proud of the effort they made in their final match against Columbus. They fell behind in the tiebreaker 2-6 and fought off four match points to get back to 6-all and then fought off one or two more match points before pulling out the 10-8 tiebreaker win. This shows how they are beginning to grow and become more match tough. We just need to remember this experience and build on it."

Ashlyn Baugher and Corina Harrison were paired up for the first time this season in No. 2 doubles. Baugher has been playing No. 2 doubles all season but this was Harrison's first varsity appearance. They finished 2-2 on the day. They picked up an 8-2 win over Nina Froggatte/McKinley Ford of Iola and an 8-3 victory over Marissa Schaurell/Ryleigh Scoech of Columbus. They lost to Sammi Highfield/Anna Frasco of Pittsburg, 8-2, and Kelsey Eckelberry/Paige Wells of LCHS, 8-5.

"They played some good solid doubles, didn't make very many unforced errors and executed well as can be seen in their results," Barr said. "They were just getting comfortable together in the Pittsburg match and really came together the rest of the tournament. Corina came up and did a nice job in her first varsity action of the season."

Kalia Dancy played No. 1 singles and went 1-3 to finish fourth. She beat Becca Frobish of Columbus, 8-0. She lost to Chaprill Stewart of Pittsburg, 8-2, Katie Anderson of LCHS, 8-3, and Amanda Carr of Iola, 8-6.

"Kalia had a good tournament," Barr said. "The results are a little deceptive and I know she would have liked to put more into the win column, but she stroked the ball really well today and played some of the best tennis she has played. Both the losses to Iola and LCHS were very close. The game count doesn't appear that way, against LCHS, but she won a lot of points and many games went to deuce over and over again, she just couldn't string enough together to win a few more games but she's getting closer all the time."

Hannah Messer was also 1-3, finishing fourth in No. 2 singles. Her win was an 8-1 decision over Nikki Spear of Columbus. In her other matches, Ashton Born of Pittsburg won 8-1, Amberly Richins of LCHS took an 8-0 decision and Danette Newland of Iola prevailed 8-2.

"Hannah played hard and gave us a good effort today at the No. 2 position," Barr said. "She is still battling with some stroke issues and unforced errors, but made some progress today. She played a good, solid match in her win against Columbus."

The Tigers' next outing will be at 4:30 p.m., Tuesday for a dual at Nevada.

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