On a rainy, cloudy, chilly Friday morning, the Lady Hornets varsity tennis team headed for the fifth time this season to Noyes Tennis Complex in St. Joseph, this time for the Individual MSHSAA District Tournament. In this tourney, teams must enter two singles competitors and two doubles pairs. Chillicothe fielded Anya Moore and Helena England in singles with Lexy Smith & Lydia Bonderer in doubles as well as Summer Gatson & Rian Mathews in doubles. After the seeding meeting, Smith and Bonderer were unanimously approved as the #1 doubles seed while the other Hornets were placed on the bracket by hat draw. The hat draws proved tough for CHS, pairing everyone versus a very tough opponent in either the first or second round, which proved how critical it was for Smith & Bonderer to have won conference the week before, making their bracket more clean cut.
At the large tennis complex consisting of 12 courts all on the same site, Chillicothe started with four of their six athletes immediately at 9 AM. Senior Helena England subbed for injured Trixie Leppin and played beautiful, consistent tennis for a full hour against a higher-ranked Savannah opponent but eventually fell short of winning in round one. Post-season play is all single-elimination, so England’s day ended there. Anya Moore drew Benton’s #2 play in her first round, and even though she plays #5/6 for Chillicothe typically, she dominated that match and moved on to the quarterfinals. However, then she had to face the top ranked singles player in the district. Moore hit long rallies and got to tons of tough balls, but she could not best such a seasoned opponent.
Seniors Gatson & Mathews drew the middle-ranked Maryville pair, who they had unfortunately already played three times this season and will see again next week in team districts. It proves very tough to play a team four times in just six weeks, but the Lady Hornets motivated themselves well and went on court with their highest energy levels of the season. They flew through the first set in controlling fashion and even went up in the second set 4-1. While just two games away from a round one win, Maryville’s pair suddenly turned on a new intensity and picked up five of the next seven games to send it to a set tie-break. Gatson & Mathews couldn’t seem to get the momentum back after that, dropping the set tie-break and then the third-set championship tie-break as well. Coach Chambers was so proud of how hard and passionately all four of these Hornets played, no matter the tough draws they got.
The bright spot of the day went to the pair of sophomore Smith and junior Bonderer as their tough two months finally paid off! They entered 18-10 on the doubles season after suffering through three very tough weeks at the start of the season where they were carrying the weight of a losing season. However, the two remained mentally tough, trusting the coaches when they told them that they play huge, hard schools all of September, so that October post-season starts to feel easier. After winning their last 11 matches straight going into Friday, not losing since Sept 20th, Smith & Bonderer were peaking at the right time. First round, they faced Trenton’s middle pair and won quickly 6-0, 6-0. Then, they played Benton’s top pair, winning 6-1, 6-1. After an hour wait, they finally got to play their semi-final against Savannah’s lower pair who upset some higher seeds, but Smith & Bonderer once again dominated that match by a score of 6-3, 6-2. Finally, after a two-hour wait for the other side of the bracket to works itself out, Chilli played the Savannah top pair for a conference championship rematch for the district title. Smith & Bonderer won more easily this week against Alexander & Hare 6-3, 6-4. The key to the day (and last three weeks for that matter) was the Hornet net play. Smith & Bonderer are solid servers and deep rally hitters, but that is not what wins matches for them. They devour the net together with their long reach and crazy verticals, making it impossible for opponents to keep the ball away from the Hornets slamming powerful volley winners.
