The Ellinwood High School girls’ tennis team is looking to build on its fourth place finish at the 3-2-1A state tournament last year, at Fort Hays State University.
Ellinwood head coach Lyle Stickney said he believes his team has the depth and experience to do just that.
“We are pretty special this year,” Stickney said. “We have a great group of juniors and great seniors here, as well. Our No. 7 and 8 players are good, too.”
So far this season, Ellinwood has competed in four meets. The Eagles have won three outright and tied for first in another, Stickney said.
Last Saturday, Ellinwood, a 2A school, competed against 5A and 6A teams at the Great Bend Invitational and won the tournament, beating the second-place team, Dodge City, by five points.
The key returnee for the Eagles is their No. 1 singles player Bailey Schartz, who finished in second place at the state tournament in doubles last year with Katie Morgenstern, who graduated last year and is now playing for Barton Community College.
Schartz is returning from knee surgery, which she had at the end of last December. Stickney said he was impressed by how fast she has recovered so far.
“She trained hard all spring,” Stickney said. “She had her surgery before Christmas and rehabbed all spring. She got out and hit some balls all summer.
“I’ve never seen a kid bounce back that well from an injury like that.”
When asked when Schartz is going to be 100 percent, Stickney simply said, “next year.”
Schartz was the No. 1 singles player for Ellinwood Tuesday at the Ellinwood Quadrangular.
Last season, the Eagles had both doubles teams qualify for state. Ellinwood returns both Darri Beckwith and Michelle Miller, who finished in ninth place at state last season, Stickney said.
Stickney has not yet decided on final pairings for his doubles teams. The Eagles coach said that he will probably make his decision at the end of the month, but doesn’t know exactly when that will be.
The Eagles have started this season in the Mid-Central-Mid league. Last season, the Eagles were part of the MCAA, which had 10 high schools, eight with girls’ tennis teams.
“Right now, it gets awful because there aren’t enough teams to play,” Stickney said. “Of the four of us, only three have teams to play, so there are not enough teams for a league tournament.
The other two teams in Ellinwood’s league are Larned and Hoisington.
“The reason I miss the other league is because there were so many good teams in there with Collegiate, Hesston and Smoky (Valley),” Stickney said. “When you start playing some of those schools, that is when you start to see some tennis.
“It kind of wakes our kids up when they see some of their best shots coming back to them better.”

Ellinwood tennis girls take first

The Ellinwood High School girls’ tennis team took first place against Greensburg, Sterling and Hutchinson Trinity on Tuesday at the Ellinwood Quadrangular.
Ellinwood’s singles and doubles teams swept the matches during the meet.
The Eagles’ No. 1 singles player, Bailey Schartz, began her meet by beating Greensburg singles player Gabi Carvalho in a tiebreaker, 7-5, to win the match, 8-7. Schartz ended the meet the same way, defeating Hutchinson Trinity’s singles Lizzie Degner in a tiebreaker, 7-3.
Darri Beckwith was paired with Reba Thomas as the No. 1 doubles team for the Eagles.
Beckwith and Thomas beat Sterling 8-4 and Hutchinson Trinity 8-0.