NEWTON — It was not an easy Class 5A regional tennis tournament.
The Great Bend Lady Panthers were staring down the No. 1- and No. 3-ranked teams in the latest Kansas Tennis Coaches Association.
Great Bend’s doubles teams answered by taking second and third places in the tournament to finish third as a team with 11 points.
No. 1 Andover claimed first with 17 points, and No. 3 Kapaun Mt. Carmel placed second with 16.
“They met my highest expectations today,” GBHS head coach Shannon Scharz said. “Going in, I figured our best day would get us second and third in doubles, but I figured it would be easy to just falter a little bit just once and knock us out of it.
“They didn’t do that, and ended up playing their best tennis of the day in their last matches.”
Sophomore Macy Moyers and junior Morgan Francis, who earned a Round-1 bye as the No. 2 seed in the doubles competition, claimed second place for Great Bend, which has been ranked as high as No. 5 in 5A this season.
The duo breezed through their second-round match, but struggled a little in the semifinal match.
“We lost the first set 6-3 against Andover,” Shannon Schartz said. “We were able to with the second set 7-6 and 7-2 in the tiebreaker. They kind of coasted from there, winning the third set 6-2. They hit a rough patch, but they came back to get to the finals match.
“They played well in that match, but they lost 6-3 and 6-2 against Kapaun Mt. Carmel. That is probably the best doubles team in the state.”
Seniors Brianna Schartz and Jami McVay got hung up against Kapaun Mt. Carmel’s eventual doubles champions in the semifinal round, but rebounded to dominate an Andover duo in the third-place game 6-0, 6-4.
“Our doubles teams played some exceptional tennis in their final matches,” Shannon Schartz said. “Brianna and Jami came on like barnstormers in that final match. The dominated the net against Andover.”
Both doubles teams qualified for the 5A state tournament, which will start on Friday at 10:30 a.m. at Arkansas City.
In singles competition, Carly Boyd and Taylor Huslig were eliminated in the first round.
“Carly did a very good job,” Shannon Schartz said. “It was both of their first times at a regional tournament, so it was nice to get our two sophomores some experience there.”

                                              — Kevin Price

HIGH SCHOOL TENNIS
Class 5A Regional Tournament

Saturday

At Newton

Team scores
1. Andover, 17; 2. Kapaun Mt. Carmel, 16; 3. Great Bend, 11; 4. Valley Center, 9; 5. Newton, 4; 6. Hays, 2; 7. Wichita Heights, 0

Great Bend results
Singles — Carly Boyd lost to Newton, 6-3, 6-1
Singles — Taylor Huslig lost to Valley Center, 6-0, 6-0
Doubles — Macy Moyers & Morgan Francis def. Kapaun Mt. Carmel, 6-0, 6-1; def. Andover, 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2; lost to Kapaun Mt. Carmel, 6-3, 6-2
Doubles — Brianna Schartz & Jami McVay def. Newton, 6-1, 6-1; def. Valley Center, 6-7 (7-9), 7-6 (7-4), 10-6; lost to Kapaun Mt. Carmel, 6-0, 6-2; def. Andover, 6-0, 6-4