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Lady Hornets Tennis
10/13-14/2023 State Individual Doubles
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Picture and Story by Coach Chambers
Day 1
On a rainy, windy Friday the 13th, Chillicothe High School's
senior tennis duo Rylee Washburn and Isabella Garr hit the courts at
Springfield's Cooper Tennis Complex to compete in the state
championship bracket comprised of the 16th best Class 1 doubles
teams in Missouri. The 16-spot bracket is built through a hat draw
since most of the teams never play each other head-to-head before
that day. Chillicothe first had to face off against Higginsville's
Gillilan & Hoeffer who they had actually played once before at a
tournament in mid-September. Rylee and Izzy dominated the entire
match even after a long rain delay and dealing with strong winds the
whole time as well. They won the first set 6-2 and the second set
6-0.
After a one hour mandatory rest, they then faced off
against Clayton High School's Sah & Nguyen. Clayton qualified all
six of their varsity players for the individual tournament, which is
the most possible for any team, and they have also already secured a
spot in the Team State Tournament Final Four. CHS knew this would be
their toughest match to date of this season. Chillicothe started off
very strong going up 5-2 in the first set due to consistent hitting
and a nervous looking Clayton pair. But then, Clayton hit their
stride and started playing very aggressively at the net. Suddenly,
Sah & Nguyen tied the match up at 5 games each. Washburn and Garr
focused in on the two elements that were working best then and one
the next two games in a row by hitting straight down the open
alleys. This gave Chillicothe the first set win 7-5.
The second set proved just as back and forth as the
first. Clayton started off winning the first game. Then the next
several games went back and forth for each team. One highlight
moment of the match happened in the middle of this set when Rylee
Washburn dove so hard for a volley that she slid across the ground,
hit the ball back over while completely horizontal, and then rolled
over to pop up for the next shot. But after the set got to 3-2 in
Chillicothe's favor thanks to much better net play, Sah & Nguyen
once again turned on their power forehands and overheads to win four
straight games and take the second set win 3-6.
In Missouri postseason play, there is no third set.
Instead, an instant 10-point championship tiebreak is played, so
Chillicothe and Clayton moved into the tiebreak to decide the match.
In these tense moments, Izzy came up with some clutch ace serves and
some killer backhand shots. The lady hornet pair went up 3-0 quickly
but then the points started going back and forth. But thanks to
those crucial first few points, Rylee and Izzy were able to close
out the tiebreak winning 10-6.
Washburn & Garr are only the third Chillicothe
girls' doubles pair to ever qualify for the MSHSAA Final Four. The
last pair to accomplish this feat was Coach Lily Pyrtle and partner
Jaimie Baker in 2008, and before that, it was Katie Stephens and
Emily Robinson in 1996. The pair is now on an 18-0 win streak since
September 16th when they had their last loss to Logan-Rogersville.
They move to 38-9 on the season with two matches left to play on
Saturday in the medal rounds. They play at 9 am in the semi-final
round against the returning state champions from Kennett-Holcomb.
Around noon, the pair will then play for either first or third place
to finish off their high school careers.
Day 2
On Saturday, October 14th, seniors Rylee Washburn
and Isabella Garr finished their decorated high school tennis
careers with two matches in the final four of the Class 1 MSHSAA
state championships. The first match of the day was set against
returning state champions Bean & McAtee from Kennett-Holcomb. While
the score looked very lopsided, Coach Chambers confirms it was a
highly competitive match with many games going to deuce. However,
Kennett-Holcomb was able to capitalize on each of those
opportunities eventually winning 6-0, 6-0 in both sets over
Chillicothe. They went on to become two-time state champions later
that day.
An hour later, Rylee and Izzy faced
their last career match against Clayton’s top doubles pair Reeves &
Zimmerman who placed fifth in state doubles last year. Chillicothe
came out strong in the first set going up 2-1, but after a game that
included six deuce ties, Clayton tied it up at 2-2 and then went on
a winning streak, taking the first set 6-3. The lady hornets played
great tennis throughout both sets with stellar net play, but
Clayton’s alley shots proved too difficult to overcome. Eventually
Clayton took the second set 6-2 to close the match.
Before beginning the weekend,
Washburn and Garr’s goal was to medal at state. Coming out fourth,
where eight medal from the pool of 16, far exceeded their
expectations. They were quoted as “being in good company with Coach
Pyrtle” since the pair now has a fourth place team medal from 2022
and a fourth place doubles medal from 2023, which precisely matches
Pyrtle’s medals from 2008. |
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