|
Lady Hornets Tennis
Chillicothe 3 Maryville 6
Sept 30 2025
<Schedule>
Story by Coach
Chambers
Wednesday proved to be a spectacular day at the MEC
tournament where every varsity tennis team in the conference
competed for the title of Singles Champion and Doubles Champions!
With six entries allowed, three of the Lady Hornets medaled while
the other three played in the final medal's match. That proves to be
one of the strongest finishes for CHS in the MEC Tournament in
recent decades. Only one other team, Savannah, had all six players
still competing at the end of the day like Chillicothe because the
rest had been sent home through the double elimination process.
In the first round of play in a 16-man bracket, #1
Doubles of Lexy Smith & Lydia Bonderer claimed the 1-seed and
received a bye. The #2 Doubles pair drew a favorable contest against
Lafayette's #1 pair. The #1 Singles entry of Anya Moore also drew a
helpful first round playing Lafayette's #2 single player, and #2
Singles athlete Isabel Nagel drew her Maryville opponent from the
night before. After round one, every single Lady Hornet had a win,
staying on the winners side of the bracket and moving to the round
of eight, which also meant moving on to sets for the first time this
season. In that second round of play, Smith & Bonderer played a very
worthy Maryville #2 pair who battled back and forth with the pair.
After winning the first set, Smith & Bonderer actually fell behind
in the second set 2-5 (with the win happening at game 6). They dug
deep and focused in on their wicked net shots to win 5 games
straight, which is such a hard task in tennis, to win the second set
and the match. At the same time, Moore was in an all out battle
against her Maryville opponent from the night before, and it lasted
well over an hour to finally secure that win, which sent all three
ladies to the final four bracket. Nagel was on the court beside
Moore battling against the #1 Savannah singles player and returning
MEC Champ, Kate Fischer. While it was a tough task to face, Nagel
did so with grace, gaining tons of valuable experience and getting
the chance to hit off the top hitter in the conference; she even won
one game off her but eventually lost the match. A few courts up,
Gatson & Mathews faced the really tough #1 Maryville pair and fell
quickly to that dominant combo. This sent Nagel, Gatson, and Mathews
to the consolation side of the bracket to battle back.
Over the three hours of a very hot midday, the
consolation side kept battling through pro-8 no ad sets while the
final four kept playing through best two of three sets. Smith &
Bonderer faced another terribly close match with LeBlond's #1 pair
in the semi-finals where they won the first set and got down 2-5 in
the second set again, but once again, they won five games in a row
to take the match and send them to the championship. Moore fought
hard against the highest ranked LeBlond singles player but could not
best her, sending her to the third place match. Gatson & Mathews
also faced a LeBlond pair winning dominantly and then a Lafayette
pair who they also beat quickly, sending them to the 5th place
match. Finally, Nagel faced the top ranked Lafayette player and won
easily before facing Cameron's lower ranked player, which required a
much tighter match that Nagel eventually pulled out, also sending
her to the 5th place match.
In the medal rounds, Smith & Bonderer faced the brand
new top Savannah pair, who were previously undefeated. It was a
high-emotion, high-intensity match with stellar play from both
sides. Once again, the Lady Hornets fell behind at the start, but as
they did all day long, they battled back and confidently won both
sets to claim the 2025 MEC Doubles Championship. Moore, after
playing for six hours straight, dug deep, and confidently won her
singles match against the lower ranked LeBlond athlete to claim 3rd
in the entire conference. Gatson, Mathews, and Nagel fought hard
through the exhaustion but came up just short of that 5th place
medal. Coach Chambers could not have been more thrilled with the
success of all six athletes through the day. The team has never had
everyone in medal matches in her coaching career. She was excited to
see her seniors show their very best effort and for her new freshman
starter to compete with so many schools' top players all by herself.
The future proves bright for Chillicothe girls' tennis!
Results were as follows:
#1 Doubles Smith & Bonderer won by bye; then won against the
Maryville pair 6-3, 7-5; then won against the LeBlond pair 6-1, 7-5;
then won against the Savannah pair 7-5, 6-1
#2 Doubles Gatson & Mathews won against the Lafayette pair 8-3; lost
to the Maryville pair 0-6, 1-6; won against the LeBlond pair 8-1;
won against the Lafayette pair 8-1; lost to the Maryville pair 1-8
#1 Singles Moore won against the Lafayette player 8-0; won against
the Maryville player 6-3, 6-6 (tiebreak 7-4), lost to the LeBlond
player 3-6, 0-6; won against the other LeBlond player 8-1
#2 Singles Nagel won against the Maryville player 8-2; lost to the
Savannah player 1-6, 0-6; won against the Lafayette player 8-2; won
against the Cameron player 8-4; lost to the Cameron top player 6-8
|
|
