CHANUTE — Iola High’s tennis season came to a close at the Class 4A Regional Tournament at Chanute Saturday. Each singles player and doubles pair was required to play in a play-in match to start the day.
Bobbi Sinclair won her play-in match against Ottawa’s Shayna Charles, 9-2. She lost her next match against Chanute’s Abby Liudahl, 6-0 and 6-0. Sinclair finished the regular season at 8-10, for the best record for Iola going into the regional.
“She played very well and was consistent all throughout the season,” coach Jenn Bycroft said. “She never gave up, and the score against Chanute does not indicate how well the match was played. The girls had a lot of long points, many games going to deuce.
“Liudahl is a strong competitor who ended up taking the first set from the no. 1-seeded Coffeyville girl on Saturday. So I really can’t say enough good about Bobbi. I was proud of her efforts and her fight to win.”
Chyanne Vaughn lost to Fort Scott’s Alex King, 9-6.
“Vaughn had defeated King twice in the regular season, but it just wasn’t her day to win,” Bycroft said. “The match was tight all the way through, and Chyanne played well.”
Shelby Reno and Allyson Hobbs easily beat Columbus, 9-0, in the play-in match. But, they lost to Chanute, 6-1 and 6-0, in the next match.
“We’ve played this same Chanute team many times in the season and have never beaten them,” Bycroft said. “They are a tough team who work well together and ended up advancing to the state tournament.
“I feel for Shelby in that this was her last match of her high school career. She’s a strong player. She and Allyson improved on this match versus ones they had previously played against this team.”
Baleigh Seeber and Tori Smith ended their season with a defeat to El Dorado 9-4. This was the first time the pair had played El Dorado and didn’t know anything about them going into the match.
“We really weren’t in this match in the beginning games,” Bycroft said. “But, after a pep talk and being down 7-2 in that set, Baleigh and Tori came back and won those next two games pretty easily. There just wasn’t enough time to get it done.”
With the losses, the team’s season came to an end.
Fillies tennis season ends at Class 4A Regional
