he Ellsworth High School varsity

Tboys’ tennis team weathered a busy three-tournament week on the road, battling fatigue and weather, yet still playing some of their best tennis of the year.

The team traveled to Central Plains High School, Claflin, on April 21, then to Abilene High School on April 22 and Hoisington April 24.

“It was a busy, busy week. Lots of tennis,” head coach Eric Anderson said. “Basically, two-anda- half meets. Thursday we only got about halfway through before the storm hit. But it’s been a busy week for us.”

The team began the week with travel to Central Plains.

“We had our ups and downs at Central Plains,” Anderson said. “That’s kind of our story for this season. When we have one person or team play well, we have our other ones kind of let some things slip. We haven’t all been on the same page. All six guys on varsity, at least, haven’t been on the same page.”

But the improvement is there.

“Every meet we’re getting there. We’re a young group. I told them to start the season this year it is about making progress and getting better for next year,” Anderson said. “I feel they are all doing that right now.

“We made progress at Central Plains. Carson Taylor (No. 2 singles) played well and finished second and Tyler Conley and Jacob Maze played well and finished second (No. 2 doubles). Not to say Gauge (Weder) didn’t play well, but Gauge had some chances to win, especially the match against Meade he lost in a tie break. Seth (Kyler) and Drew (Davis) played well, it’s just we played against some really good competition against Sterling and Central Plains.”

The following day the team competed in Abilene and had a chance to shine.

“I felt like overall, we all played pretty well in Abilene. This was the first meet we’ve actually played some of our best tennis,” Anderson said. “Gauge finished third, losing a close match to get to the championship match in No. 1 singles. Then the kid who beat him ended up placing first.

“Seth and Drew played well in No. 1 doubles. They lost a close match in the semifinals and then the team they lost to got first place pretty easy.”

The No. 2 singles and No. 2 doubles team also had a good meet at Abilene.

“Carson Taylor played pretty well again on Tuesday and he placed first,” Anderson said. “Tyler Conley and Jacob Maze went 3-0 and placed first.”

Six teams competed at the Abilene meet, with Clay Center taking first with 42 points followed by Ellsworth in second with 38.

“This was a pretty good meet for us overall as a team. I’d say out of the whole season, that’s our best meet overall,” Anderson said.

Two days later, the team traveled to Hoisington where the weather cut the day short.

“The weather was crazy. We played a double dual with Hoisington and Trego. We never really got to finish any matches with Hoisington. We were still playing the doubles match with Trego when we had to call it,” he said. “We had a couple of singles matches that had started against Hoisington, so it was just different. All of our guys got to play singles and doubles. It was a good experience for them to break out of their shell.”

Anderson explained that the double dual tournament has a different format than a regular meet, which allows the players who are normally playing doubles or singles only to experience both formats.

“In a double dual, we play kind of a college format where we play one through six singles and one, two, three doubles. Which is nice, because we kind of pigeonhole kids into playing singles or doubles because we want them to build up a good record for regionals and hopefully state, so they have to get those matches in, as many matches as they can,” he said. “Seth and Drew have been playing doubles all year and Tyler has played doubles with many partners, so it was good to see them play some singles, even if it was just for half a meet.”

Three days on the road in one week took a toll on the players, but it came at the right time in the season according to Anderson.

“It was hard on the kids. It was a busy Easter weekend. We played on Thursday before Easter. We practiced Friday morning and on Monday morning. We played Monday afternoon, played Tuesday afternoon and then Thursday at Hoisington,” Anderson said. “The guys were tired. This was a busy week and the three meets over the five days — it was a lot —and I think some of that showed in Hoisington. In some of our matches we just didn’t have the pep in our step that we needed to have. But it is also good for the long run. I kind of like this week because it prepares them for regional tennis where we play backto-back days. Lots of matches, two-out-of-three sets.”

The varsity team will play in Great Bend May 1, then it is on to regionals.

“Great Bend is a good meet to end our season on. Eight teams will be there, it’s an all-day meet, it will be a good way to end our season and get ready for regionals the following Friday,” Anderson said.

Class 3A-1A Regionals for the Ellsworth team will be May 9-10 at Wichita Collegiate High School, 9115 E. 13th St. N, Wichita. Teams competing will be Ellsworth, Haven, Hutchinson-Trinity Catholic, Lindsborg-Smoky Valley High School, Neodesha, Wichita Collegiate, Wichita-Classical School of Wichita, Wichita-The Independent High School and Wichita-Trinity Academy.