Led by a first-place performance in doubles, the Hillsboro tennis team placed third in the eight-team field at the Hesston Invitational on Saturday.
The format for this tournament, which was delayed by 90 minutes because of wet courts, brought all singles players and all doubles players into one bracket for each division rather than having two flights within each division.
Lora Andrews and Amanda Faber showed why they are force to be reckoned within Class 3-2-1A this season by sweeping all five of their matches on the way to the doubles title.
The Trojan pair won the title with an 8-6 win over Heidi Boese and Miranda Weaver of Hesston Red.
"This was a great tournament for them," coach Lynn Wiebe said of her two-time state qualifiers. "They are playing some great tennis. The understand that it takes a real team effort to make a successful doubles team."
The next-best finish for Hillsboro came in singles, where Audrey Weinbrenner (3-1) placed third.
"Audrey played very well," Wiebe said. "She is continuing to get more aggressive and her intensity level is improving as well. She anticipates well and moves the ball around nicely."
Lauren Just (2-2) placed 10th in singles.
"Lauren's only two losses for the day went to Claflin," Wiebe said. "She continues to work hard."
The Trojan doubles team of Chelsey Harmon and Greta Wiebe (1-3) placed 15th by winning its last match of the day against Wichita Collegiate.
"Although their finish for the tournament wasn't as high as they would have liked, their understanding of doubles strategy continues to improve with each tournament," The Trojan coach said.
"They both are doing a good job of anticipating volleys at the net and going after them aggressively."
As a team, the Trojans finished with 55 points, which placed them behind Wichita Independent (86) and Smoky Valley (68).
"This was a good tournament for us," Wiebe said. "I was pleased with a third-place team finish. Considering Wichita Independent has two of the top singles players in 3A, and Smoky Valley is a very competitive team at 4A, I felt we finished right about where we should be."
Coming-The Trojans will compete at the Circle Invitational at Towanda on Thursday with matches beginning at 3 p.m.
The following Tuesday, Sept. 19, Hillsboro will travel to Wichita to play in the Collegiate Invitational. Matches will begin at 3 p.m.
