The Ellsworth girls’ tennis team hosted seven teams at their invitational tournament Sept. 18 and managed to claim a first place team victory against heavy competition after a nailbiting morning of heavy rain showers.

“It was a tough meet. Chapman and Sterling have good teams, and we had to play well to win the meet as a team,” head coach Eric Anderson said. “It was a total team effort.”

The day started under a cloud, as Ellsworth had steady rainstorms throughout the morning. However, by tournament time at 1 p.m., the storms had mostly passed. The Ellsworth team’s managers and coaches then worked hard to clear the courts of all water so play could begin.

Overall, the Ellsworth team placed first with 63 points.

In individual results, the Ellsworth No. 1 Doubles team of junior Reygan Coonrod and senior Inarie Rippert placed first, defeating Sterling.

“When it was raining about an hour before the start, I thought we might not play today, but it cleared off,” Coonrod said. “It will probably be a late night here. We started about 2-ish.”

Coonrod and Rippert played in the round-robin match in Phillipsburg earlier in the week.

“In Phillipsburg, we went undefeated. We played four matches that day, and it was a round robin,” Coonrod said. “We started with Scott City, and we went 8-0. That was a good start to the day. Then we moved on to Phillipsburg, then we played Norton and Concordia. It was a great day.

“Overall, it’s been really a good season. We’re undefeated so far, Inarie and I. We’ve played against some good competition, so we’re feeling ready to take on the end of our season.”

In No. 1 Singles, junior Karli Haase placed second, losing to Sterling 8-6.

In No. 2 Singles, junior Hannah Vague placed second, losing to Chapman, 8-1.

In No. 2 Doubles, the team of sophomore Makenna Anderson and senior Felis De La Cruz took second place, falling 8-2 to a team from Chapman.

Anderson said this was she and De La Cruz’s first season of playing together.

“We’ve been doing pretty good this year,” Anderson said. “Earlier in Phillipsburg, we played four matches and went 4-0. It’s been a little up-and-down, but I think we’re getting better.”

De La Cruz agreed.

“The first match was a little rough. We started out rocky, but we picked ourselves up and we won 8-4,” she said. “Then we played Sterling. We beat them 8-1, so it’s been a pretty good day for us so far. We’re excited to play in the finals.”

But she was happy they got to play at all.

“In school, we were like ‘oh, my gosh, it’s pouring.’ There’s no meet today,’” she said. “But we came out and squeegeed the courts and we’re ready to take home the plaque.”

Following play at Hesston Sept. 23, the Bearcats will be back in action on their home court Sept. 30.