Two wins by William Chrisman made the difference between a repeat and a runner-up finish for Platte County on Friday, Aug. 24.
Competing in the third annual William Chrisman Invitational at Santa Fe Park, the Pirates came in second place with 21 points, two behind the host Bears.
In an unusual tournament format, there were three flights of singles competition, which also featured a doubles match if needed to break a tie.
The Pirates made the championship round in two of the three flights. There, the two singles players face off and if the teams split, a double match to 10 decides the winner.
In flight one, the Pirates won the championship with Hannah Valentine and Jaycie Call winning in the finals against Tori Gant and Nicole Eppert, respectively.
Platte County’s Hannah Valentine won the championship in the No. 1 flight at the William Chrisman Tournament on Friday, Aug. 31 with teammate Jaycie Call.
Valentine topped Gant, 6-4, while also adding wins against Skyler Murphy of Winnetonka, Jessica Rapp of Oak Park and Jaynee Smothers of Fort Osage. Call won 6-2 against Eppert, which followed wins against Halle Chapham of Winnetonka, Ava Ellison of Oak Park and Fort Osage’s Myranda McKenzie.
The Pirates also reached the finals the third flight, with the team of Karlee Chase, Lauryn Klein in singles and Chase and Isabelle Geddes in doubles.
Chase beat Oak Park’s Maleigha Billings, Ray-Pec’s Faith Swenson and Belton’s Julia Smith to reach the finals. There, Chase won 6-0 against William Chrisman’s Izzy Jaynes. Klein beat Oak Park’s Sophia Sanders, Belton’s Sophia Chiarelli and Ray-Pec’s Nia Phillips, but lost a tiebreaker, 7-5, to William Chrisman’s Kiara Ashurst. That meant the double match would crown the winner and the Bears jumped out to an 8-0 lead on the way to a 10-4 victory, as Jaynes/Ashurst topped Chase/Geddes.
That win, coupled with Chrisman winning the second flight against Winnetonka, gave William Chrisman the advantage in the team standings.
In the second flight, Platte County came in third as Crystal Billings and Mikayla Landers finished with victories.
Billings had wins against Oak Park’s Jennifer Jarman and Ray-Pec’s Emrie Ianniello. Landers beat Oak Park’s Kylie Michael and Ray-Pec’s Madelyn Zalewski. Both lost matches to Winnetonka.
Platte County 9, Oak Park 0
After rain washed out its season opener, Platte County went to Kansas City and picked up a shutout against Oak Park on Wednesday, Aug. 29.
The Pirates won all six singles matches to secure the win before doubles play started.
Hannah Valentine and Karlee Chase posted 10-1 victories, while Crystal Billings and Mikayla Landers had 10-3 wins. There were two close matches that Platte County prevailed in, with Jayciee Call winning 10-6 and Lauryn Klein winning 10-8.
Platte County’s Crystal Billings returns a shot against an Oak Park foe during a match on Thursday, Aug. 30 in Kansas City, Mo.
In doubles, Valentine/Call won 6-0 at No. 1, while Landers/Billings also won 6-0 at No. 2 doubles. The lone point for the Lady Oakies came at No. 3 doubles, though Chase/Klein won that, 6-1.
St. Joseph Central 8, Park Hill 1
Elise McFee won 10-8 at No. 1 singles, but that was all Park Hill could muster on the road in St. Joseph on Tuesday, Aug. 28.
Central won four other singles matches, while leading another that didn’t finish.
The Indians won all three doubles matches, while rolling to one victory, the other two were by a combined five points.
The Great 8 Tournament
Park Hill South opened the year by competing in The Great 8 Tennis Tournament in Columbia, Mo.
The Panthers dropped the opening match, 9-0, to John Burroughs, the Class 1 runners-up last year. IN the second round, Park Hill South lost a close match, 5-4, to Fayetteville, Ark.
That bumped Ian Cunliff’s squad down to the seventh-place match against Barstow. The Panthers won 7-2 to end on a high note.
Park Hill South’s Evan Kresovic, the defending Class 2 champion, won all three of her singles matches. Julia Stephens and Sydney Dial went 2-1 at No. 3 doubles.
John Burroughs won the team title, beating reigning Class 2 champions Columbia Rock Bridge.