PRATT, Kan.—
Making the jump up to 4A in the middle of the season is no small challenge. But it is a challenge Wichita Collegiate took head on as a team. With two doubles teams placing, and two singles players placing, including a first place finish for Brooke Withrow over defending state champion Bree Honer from St. James, the Spartans ran away with the team title with 58 points. St. James finished second with 35.5 points.“The nice thing about this team, is that every single kid played a part,” said Collegiate head coach Dave Hawley. “We knew we had to win one match involving St. James. And when we won that…you could see a little bit of relaxation, because they could just play for themselves. But they have totally hung everything on the idea of team.”
With Withrow’s state singles title, Grace LeMaster and Jillian Johnson taking second in doubles and Keli Dunn and Lindsay Funke picking up a third place finish, Esther Cho’s seventh place finish gave Collegiate some points it didn’t look like they would have.
In the regional tournament in Hesston, Cho was down 5-0 in the second set, one game away from missing out on the state tournament, when the Collegiate player picked herself up, and came from way behind to make the fifth place game in Hesston and secure a spot in Pratt.
“We talked before about, you can’t win matches if you’re not there,” said Hawley. “And Esther has had a great tournament. That is five or six points that we didn’t know we would need, but it’s great to have them.”
In the singles championship, Withrow, a sophomore faced a big test in Honer, the defending state champion. But what Withrow lacked in experience, she made up for with skill in a 6-2, 6-2 win to plant a Spartan flag in 4A soil early in her career.
“It was tough,” said Withrow. “(Honer) was a very good player and I got lucky today.”
Serving for the match, Withrow took her time with moments of reflection to gather herself before putting the ball in play.
“Just to stay calm and stay relaxed,” said Withrow about her thoughts in those moments. “That’s the key. That’s what I was trying to do the whole match and she definitely gave me a match today so that’s what it came down to; to stay relaxed.”
The win gave Withrow the first individual state title in her young career.
On the doubles side, Collegiate’s defending 3A state champion doubles champions in LeMaster and Johnson made it to the 4A finals against the McPherson pair of Kirsten Holle and Moira Pyle. Holle and Pyle got a fight from LeMaster and Johnson, but got the best of Collegiate to give the Bullpups a doubles title in a 6-4, 6-3 win.
“We knew it was going to be tough,” said Holle. “We knew we were kind of underdogs; weren’t expected to go anywhere. Just trying our best to keep the ball in as best we could and it ended up working out for us.”
Holle and Pyle got off to a slow start in the match, falling behind 3-0 in the first set. But the pair pulled together to overcome the stress of the moment.
“I think it was just nerves,” said Holle. “(Pyle) is going into her first state championship match. We knew they were going to be good. We finally just relaxed and I was like, ‘Moira, we have nothing to lose, let’s go.’”
“I rely on (Holle) to pick me up when I’m down,” said Pyle who is a sophomore at McPherson. “It’s pretty nerve racking when you first step on the court. We were able to stay in the point together, and get the next ball; shake off the bad plays.”
LeMaster and Johnson had to win a play-in game on Friday, but battled through the tournament to get to the finals. Although they failed to pick up another doubles title, the points given to the team were invaluable.
“I guarantee you, if you would ask them what they would rather have, if they would have had a fourth state championship in Grace’s case, third for Jillian, or the team to win without blinking they would say the team to win,” said Hawley. “That’s the kind of kids we want to have, and that’s the kind of kids they are.”
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