This tennis season has been one of the greatest we’ve seen in years. The team finished the season by winning eight total meets. Winning seven in the regular season and a tie with Hesston at the league meet. The varsity team consisted of seniors Abby Holt, Reese Watkins, Arianna Hemkin, Breanna Hemkin, junior Isabella Bailey, and sophomore Maggie Haas, who filled in for Isabella after a knee injury. The team sadly fell short at the regional tournament, with several players ending their high school careers. Even though most of the team’s season ended, there was one player who made it all the way to compete in the state tournament. That player was number one singles player, Abby Holt.
Abby Holt started the season after coming back from a fourth-place win at state the previous year. Holt took second place at her first meet, falling to Colby. Even though she didn’t take first, she used that momentum for the rest of the season. Holt attributes her success to the quality and quantity of work she puts into the sport, stating, ”I work hard in the off-season to get in lots of reps. I also focus really hard during practice and push myself every day.” All of her hard work and dedication truly paid off, and she finished her season with five first-place wins and four second-place wins. Holt completed her 100th career win this season at the regional meet, where she took first place as well. This win at regionals sent her to the state tournament for the third time in her high school career.
The state tournament was held on October 13th–14th in Topeka Ks. Holt started off the 13th with a bye round thanks to her first-place win the week before. After the bye round, Holt played a tough match against Sterling’s Chelsie Brown, where she ultimately fell short. Holt finished the day with two more wins against Oeser from Clafflin and Albright from Chaparral. Holt unfortunately lost her first match of the day to Goetz from Cimarron, meaning the best she could place would be ninth. After the tough loss, Holt knew she didn’t want to end the day on a bad note. Holt persevered and ended up on top during her next two matches. These two wins secured her a ninth-place victory. Holt has had an amazing high school career, and even though she doesn’t plan on playing tennis in college, she plans to continue to achieve greatness in all aspects of her life.
