CHANUTE — Iola High’s Chyanne Vaughn capped her junior varsity tennis season in style Monday, winning two of three matches in competition Monday at Chanute High School.
Vaughn, playing in No. 1 singles, narrowly missed a perfect day, falling only to Chelsey McQuarie of Pittsburg, 6-4. She rebounded to defeat Cassi Emhke of Chanute Gold, 6-1, and Morgan Stephens, 6-1.
“Chyanne played her best ever matches tonight,” IHS head coach Jennifer Bycroft said. “Her ground strokes were solid, she moved her opponent, and she had a great attitude. She just about won that first match also; it was so close.
“I was very proud of her,” Bycroft continued. “I expect a lot of good things from her next year.”
Judy Branstetter went 0-3 on the day in No. 2 singles, losing 6-0 to Lynzie King of Chanute, Candace Carr of Labette County and Mikayla Norris of Fort Scott.
Monday was only Branstetter’s second tennis match of her career, and her first foray into singles play.
“It was very new to her,” Bycroft said. “She didn’t start out moving around at all, but by the last match, she was showing improvement. She was returning the ball better, and her serves were more consistent.”
Baleigh Seeber and Tori Smith also showed steady improvement on the day, but could not muster a win for their efforts.
They fell, 6-0, to Capps and Cushing of Independence, 6-1 to Ford and Gatewood of Parsons, and 6-3 to Schreppel and Blackburn of Labette County.
“Baleigh and Tori really started playing together better by their second match,” Bycroft said. “There’s just not enough practice time to get these kids working together to see how the other one plays. Tori did better with her serves tonight, and will improve with experience. And Baleigh is just that kid who hustles all the time. It doesn’t matter where the ball is on the court, she’ll try and run it down.”
Kelsey Hale and Tori Danford went 0-3, falling 6-0 to Folk and Gandhi of Parsons and Knowles and Galemore of Chanute Gold. They dropped a 6-1 decision to Cunningham and Adams of Fort Scott.
“I was really proud of Kelsey and Tori tonight,” Bycroft said. “Tori needed some help with her serves, but this is the most aggressive I’ve seen them play together. Tori had some nice return shots, and Kelsey moved her feet a lot better and had some winners at the net. They were starting to get the hang of it.”
Monday’s competition wraps up the junior varsity tennis season.
“These kids always had a lot of fun and had great attitudes,” Bycroft said. “They showed good sportsmanship, and hopefully they’ll go out and practice so they will be ready for next year.”
The varsity competes today in Coffeyville in its final regular season matches. Class 4A regionals are Oct. 11-12.
Vaughn’s day includes three wins for Fillies
