HAYS — Great Bend High School head tennis coach Shannon Schartz said before the season that he expected great things out of his boys’ tennis team.
Early on, it would seem that he was right.
The Panthers won the Hays Tennis Invitational on Monday, scoring 30 points to beat second-place Abilene, which had 26.
“I thought we played real well on the day,” Schartz said. “We only dropped one match. I was really happy with how we played. We played aggressive. We played our style of power tennis.”
In its last three meets, the tennis team has a match record of 50-2 collectively.
“I think this is a special group of kids,” Schartz said. “I think they will probably be one of the best tennis teams in school history.”
Now, after the Hays invite, Great Bend has seen and defeated every Western Athletic Conference team.
“They’re pumped up,” Schartz said of his team. “They are looking forward to winning the WAC tournament and doing well at (Class 5A) regionals. We’ve beaten everybody in the WAC now, so we should be the heavy favorite heading into the tournament.”
Grant Harris, playing in the No. 1 singles spot, fell to Abilene’s No. 1 singles player 6-0. Harris finished in third place.
Austin Jacobs, the No. 2 singles player, took first place, as did Nick Moyers and Chase Buntain in the No. 1 doubles field and Adam Neeland and Ramon Garcia in the No. 2 doubles competition.
The Panthers take a short break before competing in Dodge City on Thursday, April 19. The meet begins at 3 p.m.

                                                                                   — Kevin Price

HIGH SCHOOL TENNIS
Hays Invitational

At Hays

Monday

BOYS

Team scores
1. Great Bend, 30; 2. Abilene, 26; 3. Hays, 24; 4. Liberal, 16; 4. Trego Community, 16; 6. Russell, 14; 7. Scott City, 13; 8. Hays JV, 5

Great Bend results
No. 1 singles — Grant Harris def. Hays JV, 6-0; def. Trego, 6-0; lost to Abilene, 6-0; def. Hays, 6-2
No. 2 singles — Austin Jacobs def. Hays JV, 6-0; def. Trego, 6-3; def. Abilene, 6-1; def. Hays, 6-1
No. 1 doubles — Nick Moyers & Chase Buntain def. Hays JV, 6-0; def. Trego, 6-0; def. Abilene, 6-2; def. Hays, 6-0
No. 2 doubles — Adam Neeland & Ramon Garcia def. Hays JV, 6-2; def. Trego, 6-2; def. Abilene, 6-0; def. Russell, 6-3