On Friday, the Ellinwood High School girls tennis team will be traveling to Wichita to compete against the best of the best in the Class 3-2-1A state tournament.
The Lady Eagles will be represented by six players — two singles players and two doubles teams, all of whom finished in the top six at their regional meet last Saturday in Kiowa.
 “Our main goal at regional was to get everyone qualified for state,” Ellinwood head coach Lyle Stickney said. “We didn’t necessarily play our best tennis of the season, but we played well enough to get everyone in.”
The Lady Eagles finished in second place at the regional meet, hosted by South Barber.
Ellinwood’s top placing was its doubles team, Bailey Schartz and Michelle Miller, which lost to Conway Springs’ Abby Koester and Chelsea Ebenkamp in the championship match.
The Lady Eagles’ other doubles team, comprised of Darrien Beckwith and Kaitlyn Robl, finished in fourth place to qualify for state.
“I’m very proud of this team and what they’ve been able to accomplish so far this season,” Stickney said.
Ellinwood’s two singles competitors, Gentry McLeland and Oma Thomas, slid into fifth and sixth place, respectively, to just qualify for state.
Oma Thomas is a sophomore with a 5-2 record this season. She was asked to fill in for her older sister, senior Reba Thomas, who injured her wrist while cheerleading.
“Oma had been playing very well so I let her play last week,” Stickney said. “She filled in for her older sister and she did really good. She made state.
“I’m looking forward to the state championships, the tournament has some real depth, especially in doubles. Hopefully, we’ve saved our best tennis for last, because I don’t think we’ll have any easy matches this year.”