Wednesday proved to be a spectacular day at the MEC tournament where every varsity tennis team in the conference competed for the title of Singles Champion and Doubles Champions! With six entries allowed, three of the Lady Hornets medaled while the other three played in the final medal’s match. That resulted in one of the strongest finishes for CHS in the MEC Tournament in recent decades. Only one other team, Savannah, had all six players still competing at the end of the day like Chillicothe because the rest had been sent home through the double elimination process.
In the first round of play in a 16-man bracket, #1 Doubles of Lexy Smith & Lydia Bonderer claimed the 1-seed and received a bye. The #2 Doubles pair drew a favorable contest against Lafayette’s #1 pair. The #1 Singles entry of Anya Moore also drew a helpful first round playing Lafayette’s #2 single player, and #2 Singles athlete Isabel Nagel drew her Maryville opponent from the night before. After round one, every single Lady Hornet had a win, staying on the winners side of the bracket and moving to the round of eight, which also meant moving on to sets for the first time this season. In that second round of play, Smith & Bonderer played a very worthy Maryville #2 pair who battled back and forth with the pair. After winning the first set, Smith & Bonderer actually fell behind in the second set 2-5 (with the win happening at game 6). They dug deep and focused in on their wicked net shots to win 5 games straight, which is such a hard task in tennis, to win the second set and the match. At the same time, Moore was in an all out battle against her Maryville opponent from the night before, and it lasted well over an hour to finally secure that win, which sent all three ladies to the final four bracket. Nagel was on the court beside Moore battling against the #1 Savannah singles player and returning MEC Champ, Kate Fischer. While it was a tough task to face, Nagel did so with grace, gaining tons of valuable experience and getting the chance to hit off the top hitter in the conference; she even won one game off her but eventually lost the match. A few courts up, Gatson & Mathews faced the really tough #1 Maryville pair and fell quickly to that dominant combo. This sent Nagel, Gatson, and Mathews to the consolation side of the bracket to battle back.
Over the three hours of a very hot midday, the consolation side kept battling through pro-8 no ad sets while the final four kept playing through best two of three sets. Smith & Bonderer faced another terribly close match with LeBlond’s #1 pair in the semi-finals where they won the first set and got down 2-5 in the second set again, but once again, they won five games in a row to take the match and send them to the championship. Moore fought hard against the highest ranked LeBlond singles player but could not best her, sending her to the third place match. Gatson & Mathews also faced a LeBlond pair winning dominantly and then a Lafayette pair who they also beat quickly, sending them to the 5th place match. Finally, Nagel faced the top ranked Lafayette player and won easily before facing Cameron’s lower ranked player, which required a much tighter match that Nagel eventually pulled out, also sending her to the 5th place match.
In the medal rounds, Smith & Bonderer faced the brand new top Savannah pair, who were previously undefeated. It was a high-emotion, high-intensity match with stellar play from both sides. Once again, the Lady Hornets fell behind at the start, but as they did all day long, they battled back and confidently won both sets to claim the 2025 MEC Doubles Championship. Moore, after playing for six hours straight, dug deep, and confidently won her singles match against the lower ranked LeBlond athlete to claim 3rd in the entire conference. Gatson, Mathews, and Nagel fought hard through the exhaustion but came up just short of that 5th place medal. Coach Chambers could not have been more thrilled with the success of all six athletes through the day. The team has never had everyone in medal matches in her coaching career. She was excited to see her seniors show their very best effort and for her new freshman starter to compete with so many schools’ top players all by herself. The future proves bright for Chillicothe girls tennis!
Results were as follows:
#1 Doubles Smith & Bonderer won by bye; then won against the Maryville pair 6-3, 7-5; then won against the LeBlond pair 6-1, 7-5; then won against the Savannah pair 7-5, 6-1
#2 Doubles Gatson & Mathews won against the Lafayette pair 8-3; lost to the Maryville pair 0-6, 1-6; won against the LeBlond pair 8-1; won against the Lafayette pair 8-1; lost to the Maryville pair 1-8
#1 Singles Moore won against the Lafayette player 8-0; won against the Maryville player 6-3, 6-6 (tiebreak 7-4), lost to the LeBlond player 3-6, 0-6; won against the other LeBlond player 8-1
#2 Singles Nagel won against the Maryville player 8-2; lost to the Savannah player 1-6, 0-6; won against the Lafayette player 8-2; won against the Cameron player 8-4; lost to the Cameron top player 6-8