Girls’ Tennis Regional Win

“As a team we talk about making sure each player is advancing as much as they can and maximizing the number of points they can earn towards the team title,” tennis coach Andrew Gibbs said.

That is exactly what Junior Sarah Wilcox, one of their key players, did at regionals. The tournament took place at the Indian Creek Recreation center last Saturday.

Wilcox had no problem with her first three rounds, defeating one Shawnee Mission South player 0-0, and two Blue Valley players 1-1 and 0-1.

In the final round of the tournament Wilcox faced sophomore Chloe Kuckelman from Blue Valley North. Kuckelman had beaten Wilcox 8-1 and 8-6 in the dual matches on Wednesday Oct. 5.

“I didn’t have much confidence going in because she had already had two wins,” Wilcox said.

Wilcox lost her first set 0-6, but she made a comeback and won the next set 6-4. Tie game. Whoever won the third set would take the first seed at state.

“I kept balls in play and she eventually got frustrated. I won the set 6-4. It was a really long set but it was super exciting in the end,” Wilcox said.

East won the tournament and sent heir top six players to state. Wilcox, along with five of her teammates, are the reason for this success.

The state tournament starts at 11 a.m. on Friday and 9 a.m. on Saturday at the Topeka Kossover courts.