Fort Scott tennis gets good results at tough outing

INDEPENDENCE, Kan. -- Fort Scott High School's tennis team gained a win and a tie in four duals at a meet here Thursday. The Tigers tied Arkansas City 2-2 and defeated Labette County 4-0. They lost to Independence 3-1 and Parsons 4-0.

Independence is a Kansas Class 4A state power year in and year out and Parsons will be up there with the Bulldogs many seasons. Add in to the fact that Arkansas City is a very good Class 5A program and the Tigers had a very strong test at this gathering.

Head coach Lynn Barr again used a few different lineup combinations, this time using three players in singles. The doubles teams were the same throughout the day.

"This was a great early season test for us, facing several tough opponents," Barr said. "Overall we had a played pretty well at times, but we did find out that there are things we must do better to compete with the stronger teams. In some cases we have to learn to handle the opponents pace better, especially when returning serve. Hopefully, we now have a better understanding of how important it is to get your serve in play and get the ball in play in crucial situations during a match."

Ben Bristley played three times in No. 1 singles and was 1-2 on the day. He defeated Ryan Standefer of Arkansas City 8-4 and lost to Independence's Mason Posch 8-1 and Parsons' Ryder Nush 8-1.

"Ben had a good tournament," Barr said. "This is a step up for him because last season he played primarily in the No. 2 singles position and he's going to have to adjust to the competition at 1 singles. He played some good tennis at times and I am confident that Ben will learn from this and continue to improve."

Kyle Altic played three singles matches. He lost in No. 2 singles to Issac Hilger of Independence 8-3 and Payton Hayes of Parsons 8-3. He played No. 1 singles against Labette County's Joe Garrett and won 8-5.

"I'm sure Kyle was a little disappointed, but this was his first varsity action in singles and he faced some pretty good players today," Barr said. "He had a nice match against LCHS. He fell behind early but then came back to get the win, and the LCHS player was playing some pretty consistent tennis."

Dillon Peel played a pair of No. 2 singles matches. He lost to Rhett Posey of Ark City 8-1 but came back to beat LC's Colton Kessler 8-1.

"Dillon competed well today," Barr said. "His loss came to a tough player from Ark City, and he came back and played a very dominating match in his final match against LCHS. Dillon is improving as a tennis player all the time."

Colton Grillott and Charlie Sercer played No. 1 doubles, paired up for the first time this season. They opened with an 8-3 loss to Ark City's John Rohr/Macen Vargas but beat Indy's Wes Goodrich/Anthony Davis 8-7 (7-2). They beat Labette County's Ryan Robinson/Tyler Julich 8-4 before falling to John Paul Hurley/Parker Robinson of Parsons 8-6.

"Colton and Charlie had a good tournament," Barr said. "They didn't get off to a very good start against Ark City, fell behind early and just couldn't get into a rhythm. But they came back strong in the next two matches against Indy and LCHS. Against Parsons, they again fell behind early, but played some solid tennis to pull back into the match."

Dustin Willard and Kai Simmons-Mims played No. 2 doubles. They defeated Jordan Butler/Alex Behrens of Ark City 8-2, lost to Indy's Tyler Posch/Gavin Webster 8-3, defeated LC's Michael Banowetz/Conner Traxon 8-1 and lost to Parsons' Alex Jack/Patrick Jacquinot 8-7 (7-4).

"Dustin and Kai had a very up-and-down tournament," Barr said. "They played some good tennis at times and at times had more than their share of mistakes. They have to the potential to be a good No. 2 doubles team for us this season if they continue to improve."

The Tigers are 2-5-2 in duals this season after play at Indy. They will play at Spring Hill Tuesday.