Area players excel at Kansas girls tennis state tournament

Here is a recap of 913 area individuals and teams and their accomplishments at last weekend’s Kansas girls tennis state tournaments.

Class 6A

SM East’s Elizabeth Barnickel, a senior, dropped just six games during four matches and defeated Washburn Rural’s Madeline Hill 6-0, 6-2 in Class 6A singles championship match.

She helped the Lancers capture their fourth consecutive team state title. Sarah Wilcox of SM East added a third-place finish in singles and Aidan Epstein and Stephanie Wilcox did the same in doubles. Joi Freirich and Larkin McLiney finished sixth.

The doubles title went to SM West’s Katherine and Josephine Cao, who finished the season with a 20-1 record. The Cao sisters defeated Kylee White and Lindsay Haight of Blue Valley Northwest 6-3, 6-0 in the title match.

Sayde Hendler and Evelyn Chang led Blue Valley North to a runner-up finish by placing fourth in doubles.

Class 5A

Morgan Fangman and Hannah Smith of St. James Academy placed fifth in doubles, which helped the Thunder finish seventh in the team standings.

They finished the season with a 31-3 record and placed second at their regional.

Class 4A

Bishop Miege’s Mary Kate Rielley set the bar high for herself with a third-place finish at the Class 4A state tournament.

She fell to the eventual champion in the semifinals, but bounced back for a 6-0, 6-4 victory against Baldwin’s Sophie Robertson. She finished the season with a 23-8 record.

Class 3-2-1A

Kansas City Christian’s Anna Vialle defeated Marantha Christian’s Blythe Asbell 9-5 in a pro-set for seventh place. The two teams finished 12th and 15th, respectively.

This story was originally published October 21, 2014 at 5:03 PM with the headline "Area players excel at Kansas girls tennis state tournament."