LIBERAL — Great Bend's No. 1 doubles Brooklyn Reynolds/Baze Hogan staged a comeback of the year rallying from a 7-3 deficit to force a tiebreaker at 7-7 against Dodge City's Marisol Banuelos/Yaremy Macias.
The Western Athletic Conference girls tennis title would be decided by the tiebreaker, which Dodge City won 7-4 before a captive audience. The Panthers barely came up shy of the school's 12th WAC girls tennis title.
Dodge City (11 points) swept No. 1 doubles and No. 2 doubles to edge Great Bend (10 points) and 9-time defending WAC champion Garden City (9) for the championship.
"It came down to the last No. 1 doubles match against Dodge City but if we pick up one more win anywhere throughout the day, we are at least co-champions," said Great Bend coach Zachary Bartel. "It's a little disappointing to not get first as a team. The girls fought extremely hard. I couldn't be more proud of their effort. The team title was extremely close among the top four teams."
Panther No. 1 singles Paige Stacey (2-2) placed third with an 8-1 victory over Dodge City's Katie Rouse. No. 2 singles Mac Lindberg (3-1) lost 8-5 to Garden City's Chloe Ptacek for first place. Great Bend's No. doubles Beth Hammeke/Maddie Siefkes placed runner-up with an 8-2 loss to Dodge City's Emma Bell/Addi Taylor.
All four Great Bend entries scored at least two points for the first time under coach Bartel.
"We had a long drive and a first-round bye, but we had a good warm-up," Bartel said. "We got off to a little bit of a slow start in the first round against Liberal. I don't think I've ever had a team get at least two points (wins) at all four spots. Everyone had good moments during the day and contributed to our team points."
Great Bend competes at Saturday's 5A Andover tennis regional. The top six singles and doubles place-winners qualify for the 5A state tournament.
WAC TOURNAMENT
TEAM TOTALS—1—Dodge City 11; 2—Great Bend 10; 3—Garden City 9; 4—Liberal 7; 5—Hays High 3
NO. 1 SINGLES—1ST—Chloe Ptacek, GC def. Evelin Tarango, L, 8-1; 3RD—Paige Stacey, GB def. Katie Rouse, DC, 8-1; Ptacek def. Stacey, 8-2; Tarango def. Stacey, 8-4; Stacey def. Delia Dixon, Hays, 8-2
NO. 2 SINGLES—1ST—Viviab Whitham, GC def. Mac Lindberg, GB, 8-5; 3RD—Valeria Reyes, DC def. Dakota Maier, Hays, 8-0; Lindberg def. Reyes, 8-5; Lindberg def. Maier, 8-0; Lindberg def. Isabella Rodriguez Diaz, L, 8-1
NO. 1 DOUBLES—1ST—Marisol Banuelos/Yaremy Macias, DC (4-0); 2ND—Lynette Alonso/Giselle Mesta, L (2-2, 1.3); 3RD—Brooklyn Reynolds/Baze Hogan, GB (2-2, 1.08); 4TH—Mya Ploutz/Emersyn Sander, Hays (2-2, .893); Reynolds/Hogan def. Ploutz/Sander, 8-3; Reynolds/Hogan def. Macey Kennedy/London Ojeda, GC, 8-4; Banuelos/Macias def. Reynolds/Hogan, 8-7 (7-4); Alonso/Mesta def. Reynolds/Hogan, 8-2
NO. 2 DOUBLES—1ST—Emma Bell/Addi Taylor, DC def. Beth Hammeke/Maddie Siefkes, GB, 8-2; 3RD—Maliha Navarro/Yvanna Rivera, L def. Renly Just/Reese Kennedy, GC, 8-6; Hammeke/Siefkes def. Navarro/Rivera, 8-3; Hammeke/Siefkes def. Just/Kennedy, 8-3; Hammeke/Siefkes def. Jadyn Younger/Brynn Zweifel, Hays, 8-2
