Last week, Chillicothe’s doubles team of Hannah Cypert and Hunter Keithley beat Trenton’s Claire Utley and Lauren Dolan in the Class 1, District 16 tennis final. However, that result, while giving the Lady Hornet duo a district championship, sent both squads on to Section 8 competition by virtue of their top-two finishes, with sectional play held Monday at the Noyes Tennis Complex in St. Joseph.
Monday’s action saw both local teams win two-set duels against competition from St. Pius X of Kansas City, sending the Chillicothe team and the Trenton team to the Class 1 state tournament, starting Friday, October 13th in Springfield.
In their first set against Katie Kallenberger and Maddie McCormick of St. Pius, Trenton’s Utley and Dolan were locked in a tight battle, with the set tied at 6, forcing a tie-break round. In the tiebreak, Utley and Dolan won 7-4, getting the one-set advantage over the Lady Warriors. The second set, in comparison to the first, was a breeze for Utley and Dolan, who won 6-1, igniting a celebration that sees the Lady Bulldog doubles team to state. By virtue of the “cross-bracketing” set-up by MSHSAA, Utley and Dolan, the #2 seed out of District 16, upset Kallenberger and McCormick, the #1 seed out of District 15. In last week’s District 15 doubles final, Kallenberger and McCormick had beaten St. Pius teammates, Megan McDonald and Olivia DiMaggio, 6-3, 6-3.
The cross-bracket set-up put Chillicothe’s Hannah Cypert and Hunter Keithley against McDonald and DiMaggio of St. Pius, with the Lady Hornet tandem winning in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1.
In singles play on Monday in St. Joseph, Emily Buck of Excelsior Springs beat Jacey Cornelius of Savannah 6-2, 6-1, while T.J. Oglesby of Maryville took down Madeline McDonald of St. Pius 6-3, 6-love, advancing Buck and Oglesby to state.
While Cypert and Keithley of Chillicothe can put full attention on their doubles state appearance next weekend, Utley and Dolan, along with four of their THS Lady Bulldog teammates, will now focus on this Saturday, when the district champion Trenton Lady Bulldog tennis team hosts sectional and quarterfinal competition at the THS tennis courts. Trenton will play Marshall in one sectional, with St. Pius battling Pembroke Hill in the other. The two winners advance to the state quarterfinal round, on Saturday afternoon.
