The Hillsboro tennis team capped a week of strong competition Saturday with a fifth-place finish at the eight-team Hesston Invitational.
The No. 1 doubles team of Court?ney Weber and Allison Weber led the way by placing fifth. The sisters lost to Ashley Weaver and Rachel Shogren of Hesston 8-3, and Jillian Poynter and Cara Anderson of Wichita Independent 8-4, then defeated Claire Harpool and Caroline Crosby of Wichita Collegiate 8-0, and Lizzie Sharping and Crace Cusick of Andover 8-6.
The No. 2 doubles team of Erin Winter and Peyton Loewen placed seventh. The duo lost to Hesston?s Danika Good and Morgan Schrock 8-1, Codey Davis and Blanca Garcia of Inde?pendent 8-3, and Clara Loe?wen and Abby Kaff of And?over 8-5. They then defeated Lauren Hutchinson and Diana Kim of Collegiate 8-3.
In No. 1 singles, Katie Claassen lost to Ali Anderson of Hesston, Kristin Morgan of Andover, Jessica Van Ranken and Alice Radenberg of Central Plains, all 8-0.
No. 2 singles, Claire Heyen lost to Mary Meeker of Colle?giate 8-0, Annie Reinert of Smoky Valley 8-0, Elisabeth Wilder of Hesston 8-0, and then defeated Alyvia Bell of Central Plains 8-7 (7-2) for seventh.
?Our young players are continuing to improve, though the wins and losses don?t always seem to indicate the level of play,? coach Bob Woelk said. ?Courtney and Allison Weber are becoming more comfortable.
?We are gaining experience against some stellar competition.?
Lindsborg?Against strong teams in a single-bracket format, Hillsboro struggled to a seventh-place tie Thursday at the Smoky Valley Invitational.
Maize South accumulated 84 points to win the title in the eight-school field. The Trojans tied Hutch Trinity with 21 points.
The doubles team of Court?ney Weber and Allison Weber found the most success, going 3-1 to place fifth in the combined bracket for 20 team points.
The Trojan duo opened with an 8-0 win against Savannah Dennett and Paige Richardson of Winfield, then lost to Saman?tha Aeschliman and Emma Flynn of Smoky Valley 8-1.
In the consolation bracket, the Webers defeated Laurel Kolacny and Janay Wilson of Abilene 8-4, and Jessica Butler and Regina Sithara of Winfield 8-7 (4).
Also competing in doubles were Erin Winter and Peyton Loewen, who lost to Ashley Weaver and Rachel Shogren of Hesston 8-0, Aubrey Kempke and Karli Beck of Central Plains (Claflin) 8-3, and Kristina Enslinger and Baylee Reade of Trinity 8-5 to place 16th.
In singles, Katie Claassen lost to Sarah Zey of Abilene 8-0, Brish?na Flores of Trinity 8-0, Allison Roberts of Trinity 8-2, before defeating teammate Bailey Kaufman 8-7 (2) to claim 15th.
Before meeting Claassen, Kaufman lost to Julie Frentz of Maize South 8-0, Mercedes Nihart of Winfield 8-0 and Aubrey Alcorn of Central Plains 8-3.
Coming?The Trojans get a break from varsity competition this week before hitting the road to face another strong field at Wichita Collegiate next Tuesday. Matches begin at 3 p.m.
Two days later, HHS will host its second home tournament of the season. Action begins at the Sports Complex at 3:30 p.m.
