Kinley VanPelt played in her first state tournament this year, but the Lawrence Free State sophomore gave off the perception that she had been there before.

Despite facing a Class 6A singles bracket with the top three finishers from last year and five of the top six, VanPelt walked in displaying the confidence of being the frontrunner and felt like she just needed to play her game to win it all.

She was right.

The top-seeded VanPelt marched through the loaded field before taking down Blue Valley Northwest senior Emily Chiasson 6-4, 6-1 in the final to win the state championship Saturday at Ralph Wulz Riverside Tennis Center in Wichita.

VanPelt became just the fifth Firebird to win a state title in girls tennis and first since 2002. That year Free State won both the singles and doubles titles, but lost the team title to Blue Valley North based on tiebreaker rules. Emily Wang won her second straight state title that season while Emily Loewen and Lacey Luina took the doubles crown.

VanPelt accomplished a goal that she said she’s had since watching her sister Keegan VanPelt, a 2021 Free State grad, compete at state for four years.

“I used to come to these a lot because my sister played high school tennis all four years,” VanPelt said. “I always wanted to win it because it always looked really fun to win.”
 

VanPelt definitely had fun winning. She got animated whenever she won a big rally against Chiasson in a final that went back-and-forth for most of the first set. Even in moments where Chiasson won key points, VanPelt’s confidence never seemed to waver.

“I just kept saying to myself, ‘You’ve got this,’” VanPelt said. “Even if I didn’t get that (first) set, I just kept thinking, ‘You have two more.’”

VanPelt said she always tries to stay focused on the point at hand because “the ball doesn’t know what the score is.”

“I got to get it because it’s just tennis,” VanPelt said. “There’s always going to be ups and downs. If I lose one game, I know I can get the next one.”

That mindset paid off for her, especially after she closed out the last three games to win the first set.

With Chiasson down, the first few games of the second set became extremely intense. Both players battled through a first and third game that lasted upward of 20 minutes due to long rallies and multiple deuce points. When VanPelt finished off that grueling stretch with a 2-1 lead, she felt like the momentum had swung even more than it did when she clinched the first set.

“It made her tired,” VanPelt said. “It made me tired, so I’m assuming it made her tired. I think it helped me gaining those games, it made it better for me to keep going.”
 

VanPelt also gave her teammates credit for helping her stay energized throughout that physically and mentally exhausting stretch of play.

“It was really nice having a team there to cheer for you,” VanPelt said. “In other tournaments, you don’t have anyone really, it’s just your parents. So it’s a really fun atmosphere and they’re always really supportive. I’m glad to have them there, it was really nice.”

Chiasson continued to push her the rest of the way, but VanPelt kept finding a way to squeeze out each game as she reeled off five straight to close out the state championship victory.

Free State head coach Aaron Clark said he was curious to see how she would play against Chiasson, who reached the finals by defeating Manhattan senior Jillian Harkin in a rematch of last year’s final.

Clark nearly got to see a preview of this championship final back in September.

Chiasson had already partly achieved her revenge for losing to Harkin last year at state when she defeated the reigning champ at the Kansas City Invitational in September. VanPelt and Chiasson were set to play in the final of that tournament, but a heat restriction ended play early.

“You always want to see the best players play each other at the end of any tournament,” Clark said. “But it’s just one of those things that happens that’s kind of out of your control.”

Clark said VanPelt had not been challenged very much during this high school season, but that clearly was not a problem.

“There’s where she relies on everything she does outside of the high school tennis season,” Clark said. “She stepped up to the plate and took that (first) set, played it tight early on in that second, but then she just kind of rolled from there.”
 

Clark said neither VanPelt nor himself were surprised that that matchup finally happened.

“We assumed, if she took care of her job, that she’d be facing the best player that was left,” Clark said. “She did and she proved why she was the best player at this tournament.”

Clark said he was proud of how the other players on the team performed as well. The Firebirds No. 2 singles player junior Maya Lee picked up a pair of wins to reach the quarterfinals, but missed the chance to battle VanPelt in the semis after falling 6-0, 6-0 to Olathe Northwest junior Ella Novion. 

Lee earned a 9-0 victory over Garden City senior Alivia Palmer to start the backside of the bracket, but lost 9-5 against Blue Valley North sophomore Shelby Smith. Lee earned a forfeit victory over Shawnee Mission East junior Katie Murphy to take seventh place.

“She had a great tournament, competed well and was willing to work as hard as she needed to to get points, get games and get matches,” Clark said.

Sophomore Zoe Cachiguango-Latta and freshman Camille Lee picked up a win in their first match before dropping two matches to end their season. Seniors Wendo Kimori and Jada Fowler finished their tennis careers with a trip to state, although they were not able to pick up a victory.

The win from Cachiguango-Latta and Lee did gave the team one point in doubles to push the Firebirds to 25 points, edging ahead of Blue Valley Northwest for a fourth-place team finish.
 

“Our doubles team’s competed really well, they just had some tough losses,” Clark said. “We had three super tiebreakers that just didn’t go our way, but they had a great season as well. You always like to get as many as you can to Day 2, but hopefully that’s motivation for next year for those returners.”

As for VanPelt, Clark has no concern about her finding the motivation to try and return for a second straight state title next year.

“It’s not by accident that she got here,” Clark said. “It’s because she’s played so many matches, put in so many hours at the club, and traveled across the country at these big USTA events. She’s reaped the benefits of all that hard work.”

Not only is it not by accident, it seems to run in the family. Keegan VanPelt was a three-time medalist for the Firebirds, finishing fifth in singles her first two years before adding a fourth-place finish as a junior.

The younger VanPelt has already surpassed that, but she’s still trailing another family member in Kansas high school state accomplishments in girls tennis.

Her aunt Brittany Dietz (Carvalhido) finished her high school career at Osborne with a 149-0 record. That mark, along with her 43-0 record in 1997 during her freshman season are all-time KSHSAA tennis records. VanPelt said both her sister and her aunt, along with a bunch of extended family, were in Wichita to cheer her on and celebrate the family's newest piece of hardware brought home from state tennis.

Carvalhido went on to play women’s basketball for Oklahoma State University, where she became co-captain of the team during her senior season. She is currently in her 13th year as an administrative assistant for the Louisiana State University’s men’s basketball program.

During an interview with Jim Misunas for a KSHSAA 50 for 50 story last year, Carvalhido talked about a level of focus that matches comments from VanPelt after winning state.

“I was very intense,” Carvalhido said. “Once I hit the court, I blocked everything out, stayed focused and locked in, one point at a time, one game at a time, one set at a time. I respected every opponent. I always told myself I had to get to work and get better."

In addition to focusing on one point at time, VanPelt gave similar comments about respecting her opponents when she was asked about her perceived lack of competition during her first high school season versus what she faced in USTA competitions.

“There’s great players who play high school tennis, but there’s also a lot of great players in Kansas who don’t play high school tennis,” VanPelt said. “It’s really cool being able to play high school tennis, just with the team atmosphere. I think there’s other competition that isn’t in (high school), but there’s plenty of competition in Class 6A state as well.”

VanPelt, who finished this season 29-0, is already imagining what it would be like to complete her career undefeated like Carvalhido did, but she’s also a little sad that she won’t have the chance to four-peat like her aunt did.

VanPelt had an injury that kept her off the court last season. Although she had recovered prior to the start of the postseason and felt ready to take the court, the team decided to stick with the varsity lineup that had played most of the schedule.

“That was a little bit upsetting, not being able to play,” VanPelt said. “Even though most people play all four years and I missed that first year, I kind of feel like a freshman this year. My first matches and meets and everything just felt really fun, like everything was brand new.”

Now VanPelt will turn her attention to preparing for next season, motivated by her quest for perfection. Her coach has no doubt that she’ll maintain that even after winning state. Clark said that VanPelt is one of the easiest players to coach thanks to her strong work ethic and dedication to tennis outside of the high school season.

“She knows what she needs to do and she goes out there and takes care of business,” Clark said.