Teammates battle for Eastern Kansas League tennis singles title
Less than a year after winning the Kansas Class 6A girls doubles state title, Blue Valley High School’s Morgan Steffes and Alexa Tiefel found themselves on opposite sides of the tennis court last week with the Eastern Kansas League singles championship at stake.
Both entered the EKL tournament on Saturday undefeated and, when the title match had ended, Steffes came out on top with a 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 victory over her teammate. It was her fourth consecutive EKL singles title.
“She has a lot in her game,” Blue Valley coach Nelson Elliott said. “She has drop. She has spin. She has misdirection. She has everything in her game and uses all of it.”
After a first-round bye, Steffes breezed through her next two matches and won each by an 8-0 score. She faced some resistance from Blue Valley North’s Lauren O’Brien in the semifinals, but advanced to the championship with a 6-2, 6-1 victory.
Blue Valley Northwest’s Lindsay Haight and Kylee White, who placed third at state last year, won the EKL doubles title.
Blue Valley North took the EKL team title by 26 points. Blue Valley finished second and Blue Valley Northwest third.
Soccer: Top Dawg Tournament
Blue Valley Northwest soccer coach Rick Pribyl did not make it easy for his Huskies when he agreed this year’s draws for the Top Dawg Tournament.
Blue Valley Northwest, however, emerged victorious from the field, which featured three defending state champions — Northwest, St. Thomas Aquinas and Rockhurst.
“We’re starting to move the ball well and get open for shots on goal,” Pribyl said. “Then, as always, we were pretty good defensively.”
The Huskies defeated Rockhurst 5-1, Blue Valley Northwest 3-0 and Aquinas 4-2 in the championship game. Trevor Kerns led Blue Valley Northwest with three goals and two assists.
Golf: Blue Valley Cup
The Blue Valley North girls golf team has quickly soared to the top of the Eastern Kansas League with a pair of dominant performances from senior Jean Tyrrell.
Tyrrell shot a 73 to win the Blue Valley Cup and a 74 to win the first leg of the Eastern Kansas League Championships at the Blue Valley North Invitational. She also helped deliver a pair of team titles for the Mustangs.
“She pretty much eats up the courses we’re playing because we are playing at the forward tees ... she is capable of playing the men’s tees,” BV North coach Lisa Holton said. “She’s got the capability to play at the Division I college level and we are blessed to have her.”
Tennis: CCIW player of week
Olathe East High School graduate Mollie Magee was named College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin’s player of the week in women’s tennis.
Her weekend at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Central Regional started with a loss in singles, but she bounced back to win five consecutive matches to reach the consolation championship, where she lost 6-3, 6-0. She also went 1-2 in doubles with senior partner Miranda Pence.
Magee’s record is 15-4 in singles and 10-5 in doubles.
This story was originally published September 25, 2014 at 5:48 PM with the headline "Teammates battle for Eastern Kansas League tennis singles title."