BonnerSprings.com

In what was expected to be a season full of growth for a youth-laden Bonner Springs girls tennis team, the Bravettes took some big steps forward on Saturday at the Wildcat Invitational at De Soto High School.

They finished eighth in the team standings — Lansing won the team title, followed by Kansas City Christian and Mill Valley — but Bonner Springs’ doubles teams picked up a few victories and gained some valuable experience.

Breanna Tendick and Samantha Haas won their first round match against Mill Valley’s Shelby Moore and Katie Bauer in a very close tiebreaker, 9-8 (7-2). In round two they had to play the tournament champions from De Soto, Suzie Gulley and Hana Lindbloom, and they lost 8-0.

They advanced in the consolation bracket by defeating Leavenworth’s Hilary Klotz and Mady Wilcox, 8-4, before eventually falling to Gardner-Edgerton’s Lauren Heinen and Ashley Cole.

In round three they defeated Leavenworth 8-4, and ended their day with a fourth round loss to Gardner, 8-1, and finished seventh out of 16 teams.

Bonner’s other doubles team, Teran Holter and Emily Randolph, won their first round match over Kansas City Christian’s Sarah Gittemeier and Allison Trapp, 8-3. In round two they lost to Gardner’s Kelsie George and Marijana Gjorgjevskia, 8-2. Upon moving to the consolation bracket, Holter and Randolph dropped an 8-4 decision to Lansing’s Katelyn Griffen and Ashley Harrington.

“Both of our doubles teams played well all day. There were a lot of tough players there (at the De Soto tournament) as always,” BSHS coach Bill Scott said. “Breanna and Samantha stayed alive for four rounds which was great for a doubles team that had never played in a varsity tournament together before.”

In the singles matches, both Meghan Miller and Renee Drury went 0-2. Miller lost her first match to eventual third-place finisher Amy Briggs of Lansing, 8-0, and then was eliminated by De Soto’s Emily Bilger, 8-5. Drury lost to KC Christian’s Megan Larrabee, 8-2, and was defeated by Lansing’s Marita Meyer in the first round of the consolation bracket, 8-2.

On Wednesday, Sept. 24, the Bravettes competed in a dual at Lawrence High and dropped the varsity series, 6-3. Lawrence also won the JV series, 9-5.

Singles victories for BSHS were turned in by Teran Holter, Caitlin Hilliard, Samantha Haas, Danielle Duarte and Amelia Sheldon.

“We had good singles play from many of the girls today,” Scott said of the dual. “Our varsity girls who won, Teran Caitlin and Samantha, really played hard. Danielle and Amelia continued to win in the JV, and Melissa Cisneros played the longest match of the year so far and had a heartbreaking defeat in a long tiebreaker. Overall I thought our singles play was improved over the last month.”

The Bravettes return to the court at 8:30 a.m. Thursday for their home tournament. Eight schools will be participating.