Fillies place third at Coffeyville meet to end regular season

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Sports

October 2, 2017 - 12:00 AM

The Fillie tennis team closed out the regular season on Tuesday at Coffeyville with Iola finishing third behind Pittsburg and Parsons.
Number one singles player Allie Utley led the way for the Fillies, going 3-1 and finishing second overall.
Utley started off with an 8-2 win over Madison Giesen of Coffeyville followed with an 8-0 win over Salena Sitch of Chanute. Utley then fell 8-4 to Nicole Konopelko from Pittsburg before closing out the tournament with an 8-0 win over Parsons’ Ally Hicks.
“Playing four matches in one day is a lot, but Allie has shown more endurance these last couple of weeks, really hanging in there at the number one singles spot,” head coach Jenn Bycroft said. “She has played against the same Pittsburg player two weeks in a row, and Allie had to overcome some poor calls. 
“Though she didn’t win that match, with a score of 8-4, I was proud of how she handled herself throughout the match despite what was going on.  I told her that she had to have more mental toughness in this particular match than maybe any other match she played tonight.”
Number two singles player Erin Klubek struggled some as she finished the meet 1-3.
Klubek opened with an 8-2 loss to Sara Vargas of Coffeyville before getting an 8-2 win over Taryn Seely of Chanute. She then fell 8-1 to Pittsburg’s Rylee Johnson and 8-2 to Parsons’ Gracen Friess.
“Erin has really been playing well at singles these last couple of weeks but toward the end of the night, she gets a little fatigued, but she always hustles and never gives up on a ball,” Bycroft said. “Her shots are more controlled and she’s been working hard to cover the court well, even though she is used to having a doubles partner.  I was glad to see her get the win over Chanute and though her other scores don’t show that the matches were very close, she had some good long rallies with her opponents.”
The second most successful team of the night was the number one doubles team of Macayla Bycroft and Gabby Richards who went 2-2.
They started off with an 8-0 win over Coffeyville and a 8-6 tough win over Chanute. The due then fell 8-0 to Pittsburg and then 8-5 to Parsons.
“Macayla and Gabby work so hard together,” Bycroft said. “For only playing together two weeks now, they communicate so well on the court and have fun as well.  I was proud of their hustle, focus, and determination.  The match against Chanute was a tough one and a huge win for us going into Regionals.  I thought maybe we would pull the win out against the Parsons team, but didn’t quite get there.  It was a good match with long points, with some amazing returns that were tough to get.  8-5 is a good score showing how hard they worked.”
Finally, the number two tennis team of Jennifer Tidd and Carlie Payne finished 1-3.
They started off with an 8-0 win over Coffeyville before falling in 8-7 to Chanute in a match that had four tie breaks. They then fell 8-1 to Pittsburg before just barely losing 8-7 to Parsons in a match with eight tiebreaks.
“Though they only got one victory tonight, the two tiebreak scores showed how hard they worked with every point,” Bycroft said. “It’s hard on the players when they are that close and lose in the tiebreak, but at least it wasn’t a blowout.  They had some good competition tonight.”
The Fillies will head to the class 4A Parsons regional on Friday and Saturday where they’ll compete against Altamont-Labette County, Arkansas City, Chanute, Coffeyville-Field Kindley, Columbus, Fort Scott, Independence, Parsons and Winfield.

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