The final full week of April was an action-packed one for the three Platte County-area tennis teams.
KC INVITATIONAL: Park Hill was among 16 teams competing in the KC Invitational on April 21 at Harmon Park in Prairie Village, Kansas.
Among the top tennis tournaments in the area, the Trojans battled for a ninth-place finish. Park Hill’s top performers came from doubles, where they tallied 140 of the team’s 190 points.
The freshman tandem of Alex Kalis and Lane Marshall opened their B Doubles showing with an 8-2 triumph over Andover and 8-1 over Pembroke Hill before falling to Rockhurst 8-1. They lost 8-2 in the third-place match to Shawnee Mission East.
In A Doubles, the partnership of Drew Miller and Carter Lovitt opened with an 8-5 win over St. Joseph Central before being sent to the consolation bracket with an 8-5 defeat to Pembroke Hill.
They responded well to defeat, overcoming Lawrence - Free State 8-4 before clinching fifth-place with an 8-6 win over Rockhurst.
Park Hill senior Bond Pasley awaits a serve in Park Hill’s victory over Park Hill South.
In singles, both Cody Phan and Bond Pasley finished with placement victories. After losing his first two matches, Phan finished 13th in A Singles with placement victories over Blue Valley North and Lee’s Summit North. Pasley advanced to the consolation semifinals in B Singles before settling for 11th place with a win over St. Joseph Central.
PARK HILL 6-3 KEARNEY: In addition to the KC Invitational on April 21, Park Hill played its junior varsity against Kearney’s varsity squad, coming out victorious with a 6-3 road win.
Devin Witzke and Jack Rawson teamed up for an 8-1 win at No. 2 doubles, a result that was copied by Parker Dennis and Layne Schuster at No. 3 doubles.
Park Hill also took the singles matchup, where the bottom four took the victories. Theo Krestsinger won his match 8-1, Dennis won 8-3, Rawon won 9-7 and Schuster won with an emphatic 8-0 sweep.
PARK HILL SOUTH WINS FIFTH STRAIGHT: Park Hill South climbed above .500 once again after its most recent five-match winning streak.
The streak began with a sweep of Lee’s Summit 9-0 on April 14, followed by another dominant performance in an 8-1 triumph over Platte County on April 16.
More recently, the Panthers returned to conference play with a 7-2 win over St. Joseph Central and a 9-0 sweep of North Kansas City. The Panthers hit their five-match winning streak with a 7-2 win over Liberty North on April 22, the team’s longest run of the season.
PLATTE COUNTY SPLITS CONFERENCE MATCHES: Platte County’s conference title hopes took a major hit on April 20, when they suffered a narrow 5-4 defeat to Grain Valley. The result ended the Pirates’ five-match winning run over the Eagles.
The Pirates returned the next night with vengeance, sweeping William Chrisman 9-0.
Platte County is 12-8 on the season, with a 4-1 mark in conference play. Grain Valley can clinch the conference title this week with wins over Ruskin and Belton, who are both winless in conference play.
PARK HILL 7-2 PARK HILL SOUTH: Park Hill defeated Park Hill South 7-2 on April 24, stretching the Trojans’ unbeaten run in the rivalry to seven matches.
Park Hill junior Carter Lovitt played No. 1 Singles and Doubles against Park Hill South on April 24.
Both sides had a restructured No. 1 doubles team, with each missing a player. Park Hill had Carter Lovitt alongside Cody Phan while South played Henry Jacobs alongside Sam Patel.
Lovitt and Phan jumped out to a 6-3 lead, but South went on a run and eventually took an 8-7 lead after breaking Phan’s serve following numerous deuce points. Park Hill responded to force a tiebreaker level at 8-8, and the Trojans remained hot with the first three points of the tiebreak, eventually securing the 9-8(5) victory.
The Trojans’ No. 1 doubles win secured a doubles sweep. Kalis and Marshall cruised at No. 2 doubles, winning 8-4, while Bond and Will Rouse trailed early before taking their match 8-5.
South got on the board in singles, where Cole Tenbrink worked quickly to capitalize on Phan’s quick turnaround and win his match 8-3 at No. 4 singles. Jacobs got the Panthers’ other win, defeating Lovitt 8-5 at No. 1 singles.
Park Hill clinched the match with Kalis’ comeback effort in No. 2 singles, coming back from a 6-3 deficit to win 8-6 while Marshall won in No. 3 singles 8-3. Pasley remained close against Henrik VanAsselt, but Pasley closed out an 8-5 win for Park Hill. The Trojans’ final win came at No. 6 singles from Rouse, who came back from a narrow deficit to defeat John Rastorfer with an 8-6 final.
NORTHLAND INVITATIONAL: Park Hill South senior Cole Tenbrink was the area’s top performer at the Art Loepp Northland Tennis Tournament, held April 25 at Oak Park High School.
Park Hill South senior Cole Tenbrink impressed last week, winning his singles match against Park Hill on April 24 and winning the B Singles title at the Art Loepp Northland Invitational on April 25.
Tenbrink ran the table in the B Singles bracket. Tenbrink glided past St. Joseph Central’s Justin Le in the opening match 8-1 and edged out an 8-6 victory over Grain Valley’s Carter Cygan. In the championship match, Tenbrink overcame Joplin’s Jack Delman with an 8-5 decision.
Park Hill’s B Doubles tandem of Cody Phan and Bond Pasley also advanced to the championship match, defeating North Kansas City 8-2 and Liberty North 8-1. They fell in a close finals match to Liberty 8-6.
Platte County’s best finish was a third-place finish in B Doubles for Jacoby Keith and Wyatt Beeson. After opening the day with an 8-2 triumph over Staley, they fell in a tiebreaker to Liberty 8-7(6) before bouncing back with an 8-5 win over Liberty North for third.
In A Singles, Carter Lovitt had a valiant run for a third-place medal. He swept Kearney 8-0 to open the day before losing a tiebreaker to Joplin 8-7(6), only to bounce back for third with an 8-2 win over St. Joseph Central.
In A Doubles, Park Hill and Park Hill South finished third and fourth, respectively. Park Hill’s team of Alex Kalis and Lane Marshall bounced back from tiebreak heartbreak in the semifinal to overcome Park Hill South’s Henry Jacobs and Sam Patel for the third-place medal with an 8-3 verdict.
Next up, all three programs will compete in individual districts for singles and doubles. Park Hill and Park Hill South will compete out of Class 3 District 8 on Thursday, April 30 at Oak Park, while Platte County will host Class 2 District 8 on Friday, May 1.