McPHERSON — The McPherson Invitational was the first test of the season for the Great Bend High School girls’ varsity tennis team.
The Lady Panthers finished fourth overall on Thursday, behind Arkansas City, McPherson and Derby.
“I was real happy with how we did,” Great Bend head coach Shannon Schartz said. “We finished fourth out of nine schools. There was a singles tournament and a doubles tournament, so both No. 1’s and No. 2’s played together. There were 20 (entries) each, and they played to the 19th and 20th places, so it was a long day.
“Ark City is third in (Class) 5A, McPherson is fourth in 4A and Derby is a really good 6A school, so we did a very good job sticking with them.”
Macy Moyers and Brianna Schartz played as a doubles team. They went 3-1 for third place after entering the tournament as the No. 5 seed.
Morgan Francis and Jami McVay combined as the other doubles team, entering as the No. 7 seed and capturing fifth place after finishing 3-1 on the day.
“Our doubles team were seeded fifth and seventh,” Shannon Schartz said, “and I thought they did very well. I think we could’ve done better if they had been seeded a little higher.
“Brianna and Macy beat the fourth seed pretty bad, and ended up having to face the No. 1 seed from Ark City. They played them toe-to-toe, but lost 8-6.”
Francis and McVay had a similar situation.
“Our other doubles team did very well, too,” Shannon Shartz said. “They ended up having to face McPherson in the quarterfinals. They are one of the top doubles teams in 4A. If they were seeded a little higher, they wouldn’t have had to face them until the semifinal match, so that’s a big difference.”
Carly Boyd and Taylor Huslig each played in the singles competition. Huslig went 1-2, and Boyd went 0-3.
“I took my top 4 at doubles because of the format,” Shannon Schartz said. “I had my two sophomores compete as singles for the first time on varsity. They kind of took one for the team.”
The Lady Panthers play host to Dodge City, Hays, Larned and Sterling on Tuesday afternoon, starting at 3 at Veterans Memorial Park.

                                                        — Kevin Price

HIGH SCHOOL TENNIS
McPherson Invitational

Thursday

At McPherson

GIRLS

Great Bend results
Singles — Carly Boyd lost to Arkansas City, 8-3; lost to Goddard Eisenhower, 8-5; lost to Goddard Eisenhower, 8-4
Singles — Taylor Huslig lost to McPherson, 8-0; def. Douglas, 8-3; lost to Douglas, 8-2
Doubles — Macy Moyers & Brianna Schartz def. Newton, 8-1; def. Valley Center, 8-3; lost to Arkansas City, 8-6; def. Valley Center, 8-3
Doubles — Morgan Francis & Jami McVay def. McPherson, 8-3; lost to McPherson, 8-0; def. Arkansas City, 8-2; def. Derby 8-7 (8-6)