After a solid start Friday, Hillsboro?s Harry Faber lost twice on Saturday to finish 11th at the Class 3-2-1A state tennis tournament this weekend in Hillsboro.
Paying on his home court, Faber earned a first-round bye because of his second-place finish in regionals a week earlier.
Advancing to the quarterfinals, the senior then defeated Shawn Nulik of Chaparral, 6-1, 6-3. Nulik entered the tournament with an 18-13 record.
?Harry played well, winning points from the baseline and at the net, demonstrating the nice all-around tennis game he has,? coach Stuart Holmes said.
Faber then faced undefeated Layne Bieberle of Central Plains, who was 30-0 at the start of the day. Faber dropped a 6-2, 6-0 decision, and Bieberle went on to finish fourth in the tournament.
?Even though there were many good rallies, and Harry won a lot of points, his opponent was able to win almost all the close games to pull away for the in win a match that was closer than the score might indicate,? Holmes said.
But on Saturday, Faber lost to Evan Bentley (20-12) of Hutchin?son Trinity, 9-3, then ended his tournament stay with a 9-3 victory over Anthony Lloyd (9-13) of Wichita Independent.
?Unfortunately for Harry, he didn?t play as well as he normally does in his first two matches on Saturday morning,? Holmes said. ?Harry fought hard, but I know it was disappointing for Harry to have an off couple of matches.?
?Harry was able to bounce back (from the loss to Bentley) and play outstanding tennis in his final match to win convincingly and earn the 11th-place medal,? he added.
Faber, who placed ninth last year at state, finished his HHS career with a 24-10 season record.
?It was a positive way to end his high school career,? Holmes said. ?Harry finishes as a two-time singles state medalist and played a lot of great tennis while at the same time showing good sportsmanship and hustle.?
