Weber second at Sterling round-robin

 Hillsboro?s Allison Weber was runner-up in No. 1 singles at the Sterling round-robin tennis tournament Thursday. After dropping her opening match to Sterling, Weber defeated St. John and Hutchinson Trinity. Hillsboro junior Allison Weber finished as the runner-up in No. 1 singles in the four-team, round-robin tournament Thursday at Ster?ling.

Weber lost her opening match, 8-5, to Sterling freshman Mad?die Thrasher, then won 8-0 over Katelyn Span?gen?berg of St. John and 8-1 over Sophia Garcia of Hutch??inson Trinity.

?Thrasher is going to be a force in the (league) this year,? coach Bob Woelk said. ?Allison staged a bit of a comeback late in the match after going down 4-1, but she could not counter Thrasher?s ability to move her all over the court.?

Claire Heyen and Allison Gray at No. 1 doubles lost a heartbreaker to Sterling?s Veronica Norez and Lindsay Gilmore, 8-7 (7-4), in the first round.

?They had a 6-5 lead and a 7-6 lead, but Sterling?s duo came back to force the tiebreaker,? Woelk said.

Heyen and Gray then defeated Tyler Dove and Audrey Mercer of St. John 8-5, before losing to Trinity?s Baylee Reade and Emma Lanham, 8-1.

?Reade is a past state qualifier and can be dominant at the net,? Woelk said. ?Our girls fought hard. We need to clean up our double faults and unforced errors.?

In No. 2 singles, sophomore Jazmene May made her varsity debut with 8-0 losses to Sterling?s Mac Thrasher and Trinity?s Kristina Enslinger. She was awarded a win when the St. John player retired due to illness or injury.

Hillsboro?s No. 2 doubles team of Hannah Funk and Anna Glanzer lost to Ster?ling?s Jessica Thorpe and Shelbi Fenwick, 8-2, but defeated Trinity?s Catherine LeClaire and Esmeralda Tovar, 8-6, for the Trojan duo?s first varsity win.

St. John did not have a No. 2 team, so Hillsboro took second in the division.

?Overall, we had some bright moments,? Woelk said. ?Funk and Glanzer continued to improve. Hannah is doing a good job of court coverage and really hustles to the ball well. As a freshman, Anna is still learning the game. It was her first outing as a doubles player.?

With 15 points, Hillsboro finished third behind Ster?ling (27) and Trinity (18) and ahead of scoreless St. John in the team competition.

Hillsboro?Allison Weber opened the new season impressively by cruising to the No. 1 singles title at the Trojans? home invitational Sept. 3.

?I don?t remember having anybody win No. 1 singles in our own meet for a long time,? coach Bob Woelk said. ?Allison made some aggressive moves once in a while, and hit some nice passing shots. It was a good day for her to work on some of that.?

The format divided the field of six schools into two pools, with singles and doubles players first facing off with their counterparts from the other two schools.

Weber was perfect in her two matches, claiming 8-0 wins against Makenzie Nisley of Nicker?son and Jasmine Ray of Haven.

Hillsboro?s No. 1 doubles team of Allison Gray and Claire Heyen defeated Hanna Latham and Jade Bornholdt of Nickerson 8-3, but lost to Stallbaumer and Wagler of Haven 8-1.

In No. 2 singles, Anna Glanzer lost 8-0 to Victoria Smalling of Nickerson and 8-2 to Haley Nachtigall of Nickerson. The No. 2 doubles team of Destiny Sharp and Hannah Funk lost 8-2 to Sabrina Nisly and Annika Miller of Haven, and 8-5 to Hannah Strickler and Alexandria Christian of Nickerson.

Once pool play was complete, Pool A players then faced their counterpart finisher from Pool B to determine final placement.

In singles, Weber defeated Olivia Brubacher of Hesston 8-1 for first place at No. 1 while Glanzer lost 8-0 to Maddi Mayberry of Pratt in the fifth-place match at No. 2.

In doubles, Gray and Heyen lost to Jocelin Pusch and Kaitlin Schrock of Hesston in the third-place match at No. 1, and Sharp and Funk lost to Kamille Barragree and Corline Engle of Wichita Collegiate in the fifth-place match at No. 2.

Weber?s play accounted for 15 of Hills?boro?s 21 team points, which put the Tro?jans in fourth place behind Hesston (41), Pratt (26) and Haven (24), but ahead of Wichita Collegiate (20) and Nickerson (18).

Coming?The Trojans are schedule to play in two tournaments this week, first on Thursday at Smoky Valley with a 10 a.m. start, then at Hesston Saturday starting at 9 a.m.

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