Sterling junior Chelsie Brown capped off an undefeated season on Saturday at the KSHSAA 3-2-1A Girls State Tennis Tournament in Wichita at the Riverside Tennis Complex. Going into the tournament as the top seed at 32-0, Brown held true, finishing 4-0 on the weekend and 36-0 on the season. In the team standings, Wichita Collegiate came away with the title with 38 points, while Ellsworth finished second with 33.
Brown opened with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Reese Merlau of Hoisington and then beat Marysville’s Katherine Frese 6-4, 6-1 in the quarterfinals. She had a tough match in the semis, but ended with a 6-3, 6-4 win over St. John senior Camila Sanchez-Rojas, whom she beat for the regional title last week in Ashland. In the state championship match, Brown battled through a 6-4 first set, but rolled to a 6-0 win in the second set over Kansas City-Christian’s Lauren Seitz.
Sanchez-Rojas finished in third place, opening with wins over Acacia Knight of Wichita Collegiate (6-1, 6-1) and Karli Haase of Ellsworth (6-4, 6-2) in the quarters. After falling to Brown in the semis, she regrouped for a 6-1, 6-3 win over Amelia Blackman of Wichita Collegiate for the bronze. Sanchez-Rojas finished the weekend 3-1 and her final season 22-3. Haase finished in fifth place for Ellsworth, beating Kingman’s Ryan Schreiner, who finished sixth. Other medalists from the area were Hannah Vague of Ellsworth in tenth and Hoisington’s Merlau finished 12th.
Ellsworth’s doubles team of sophomore Reygan Coonrod and junior Inarie Rippert entered the tournament as the second seed despite a 31-0 record, as Collegiate seniors Laney Conrad and Julia Herman were 21-2, but had the number one seed. The two teams played their way to the finals and the seeds held true as Conrad and Herrman beat Coonrod and Rippert in the championship match 6-2, 6-0. Prior to that, the Ellsworth team opened with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Roselyn Garcia and Crimson Sonday of Cimarron. In the quarters, they met their teammates Felicita De La Cruz and Elena Jundt and picked up a 6-3, 6-3 win. They then went on to beat Molly Martin and Elyse Griffin of Hesston in the semis 7-6, 6-2. Coonrod and Rippert finished the year at 34-1 with their silver medals at state.
Martin and Griffin bounced back from the semifinal loss to beat Morgan Koester and Sadie Koester from Conway Springs 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 to bring home the bronze medals in doubles. Also from the area, Grace Lamatsch and Ryann Metro of Central Plains medaled in eighth place and De La Cruz and Jundt of Ellsworth finished 11th. The full 3-2-1A State Tournament results are below.
KSHSAA 3-2-1A Girls State Tennis Results
