On Friday, the CHS girls’ tennis team traveled to their traditional final opening season competition — the Platte County Tournament. This tournament allows Chillicothe to, once again, face mostly larger schools, where the team focuses on development, court time, and growth to prepare for the remainder of their calendar in Class 1 competitions. The tournament consists of seeded brackets based on rank position both in singles and doubles. Therefore, Chillicothe played junior Lexy Smith in the #1 singles bracket, sophomore Isabel Nagel in #2, senior Lydia Bonderer in #3, senior Anya Moore in #4, freshman London Douglas in #5, and sophomore Jocelynn Albrecht in #6.
By 1 pm, under the scorching sun, the Lady Hornet netters had each found one or two wins in their respective brackets, including some wins over larger schools. Coach Chambers said she was proud of all of the following: Smith’s long rallies against St. Joe Central’s #1 player, Nagel’s tenacity in three consecutive tiebreaks after very long matches, Bonderer’s calm confidence even after a tough first round, Moore’s constant fight to never give up, Douglas’ willingness to accept coaching and improve as a new starter, and Albrecht’s display of maturity when down in the count and pushed to battle back. After the long morning in singles’ play, the doubles’ brackets were limited to only one match each due to excessive heat. By the end of the day, Chillicothe actually finished third overall as a team, behind a Class 3 and Class 2 team only. Results were as follows:
#1 Smith — lost to St. Joe Central, beat St. Joe Benton, lost to Savannah — placed 6th
#2 Nagel — beat Parkhill South (in a tiebreak), lost to Platte County (in a tiebreak), beat Savannah (in a tiebreak) — placed 3rd
#3 Bonderer — lost to Platte County, beat Parkhill South, beat Warrensburg — placed 5th
#4 Moore — beat Benton, lost to Platte County, lost to Parkhill South — placed 4th
#5 Douglas — lost to Liberty North, lost to Warrensburg, beat Benton — placed 7th
#6 Albrecht — lost to Parkhill South, beat St. Joe Central, beat Savannah — placed 5th
#1 Doubles Smith & Bonderer — lost to Liberty North
#2 Doubles Nagel & Moore — beat St. Joe Central
#3 Doubles Douglas & Albrecht — beat St. Joe Benton
Team Results:
1. Liberty North
2. Platte County
3. Chillicothe
4. Savannah & St. Joe Central
6. Parkhill South
7. Warrensburg
8. St. Joe Benton