2022 GIRLS TENNIS PREVIEW
 

CLASS 6A

2021 State Champion: Shawnee Mission East

2021 State Runner-up: Blue Valley North

2021 Singles Champion: Jillian Harkin, Manhattan

2021 Doubles Champions: Bryson Langford/Greta Stechschulte, Shawnee Mission East

2021 Review: Riding the strength of its doubles teams, Shawnee Mission East ran away with last year's team championship, scoring 49 points to top runner-up Blue Valley North by a whopping 18 points. The title was the third straight for the Lancers, which coincided with the arrival of Bryson Langford and Greta Stechschulte into the program. The doubles tandem has captured the 6A crown each of their first three seasons and they can become the first team in state history to pull off the career sweep as partners this season. East also got a runner-up finish in doubles from Katie Schmidt and Abigail Long and a fourth in singles from Bridget Epstein to distance itself from rival North, which was runner-up in 2020 by eight points and tied East for first in 2019. The Mustangs were led by a 5-6 finish from singles players Shelby Smith and Joy Yan. Blue Valley Northwest was a distant third place in the team standings, led by singles runner-up Emily Chaisson, who fell to Manhattan's Jillian Harkin in the finals.

2022 Contenders: Once again, the title will go through East. Not only are Langford and Stechschulte back to chase history, but Long and Schmidt also return looking to make a little of their own after two straight runner-up state finishes to their teammates. The Lancers will miss Epstein, but seventh-place singles finisher Katie Murphy returns and the Lancers' depth will fill the lone singles hole. North once again will challenge the Lancers with both Smith and Yan back. The Mustangs graduated seventh-place doubles team Mary Crossland and Cimone Trysla, but the tandem of Nancy Di Palo and Emma Razi return after placing 10th at state last year. Northwest returns Chaisson and the sixth-place state doubles team of Saraphina Wambi and Lydia Peng. Olathe Northwest was fourth last year, but returns all six state qualifiers led by third-place singles finisher Ella Novion and the eight-place doubles team of Hannah Carney and Riley Terhune. Harkin also returns to defend her state singles title and is one of four returning state qualifiers for the Indians. In all, seven of last year's top-eight singles placers return for 2022, making the field extremely deep with talent.
 

CLASS 5A

2021 State Champion: Andover

2021 State Runner-up: Salina Central

2021 Singles Champion: Reagan Boleski, Kapaun Mt. Carmel

2021 Doubles Champions: Lauren Sweeney/Grace Unruh, Seaman

2021 Review: Coming off a third-place finish at the 2020 state tournament, Andover felt it had the pieces to overtake 2020 champion Bishop Carroll and runner-up Kapaun Mt. Carmel. The Trojans then went out and backed up that feeling in a big way, all but wrapping up their first state championship since 2015 on the first day of the state tournament. While the Trojans didn't manage a state finalist in either singles or doubles, they did the next-best thing to secure the team championship, finishing 3-4 in both singles and doubles action. Andover's 47 points were 19 points better than runner-up Salina Central, which had three top-seven finishers. Led by singles champion Reagan Boleski, Kapaun edged rival Carroll by one point for third in the team standings. Seaman was fifth, led by the undefeated state championship doubles team of Grace Unruh and Lauren Sweeney.

2022 Contenders: Andover isn't going anywhere any time soon. The Trojans have a big hole to fill with the graduation of Sarah Sinclair, who placed third in singles last season after capturing the 2020 doubles championship with older sister Emma. And Annabelle Tantemsomboon also has graduated after teaming with Hannah Pappademos to finish fourth in doubles last year. But everyone else is back, including the third-place doubles tandem of Brooke Walker and Anna Jittawait and fourth-place singles finisher Molly Gaddis. Gaddis, a sophomore, will likely be joined in singles play by incoming freshman Mia Jaramillo, who is currently ranked third in the 14-under division and fifth in the 16-under division of USTA for Kansas. Another impact freshman, Emma Jittawait, is a strong bet to fill one of the doubles openings with Walker and Anna Jittawait, both juniors, likely staying paired together. Andover has no seniors on the roster and depth behind the returners/freshmen. Salina Central was super-young last year with four of its six state qualifiers freshmen. Mackenzie Nutter, who teamed with Addison Renfro to finish seventh at state in doubles last year is the lone loss to graduation with Renfro a triplet along with sisters Claire and Mallory, who also qualified. Junior Veronica Montoya finished fifth in singles last year and sophomore Katelyn Rupe was seventh last year as a freshman. Kapaun and Carroll both were hit hard by graduation with Boleski gone after a stellar career that included three top-two state finishes. Jackie Ackerman finished 10th in singles as the top returner for Kapaun. Carroll's Brynn Steven finished runner-up to Boleski in singles, but is the lone returning qualifier for the Golden Eagles. Andover Central is positioned to challenge for a spot in the top three this season after taking sixth last year without a singles qualifier. The duo of Maya Chon and Bryer Geoffrey finished as state doubles runners-up but also are standout singles players and could transition there this fall. The doubles team of McKinnley Evans and Grace Schaefer were eighth at state and also return after finishing as regional runners-up to Chon and Geoffrey. Maize South returns a trio of qualifiers led by junior Annabelle Aldrete. Seaman's Sweeney will have a new partner in doubles as she tries to go after a second straight state title.
 

CLASS 4A

2021 State Champion: McPherson

2021 State Runner-up: Wellington

2021 Singles Champion: Ainzley Zulueta, Hayden

2021 Doubles Champions: Patty Huera/Perrin Schneider, McPherson

2021 Review: McPherson doubled its pleasure on its way to capturing its first state championship since 2013. The Bullpups swept the top two spots in the 4A doubles bracket at Patty Huerta and Perrin Schneider topped teammates Maddie Dobson and Sydney Achilles for the state crown. Throw in a 7-9 finish from Riggs Kuhn and Taylor Berger in singles play and McPherson had far too much firepower for the rest of Class 4A, scoring 44 points to easily outdistance runner-up Wellington and third-place Hayden, each of whom finished with 25 points with Wellington taking second on a qualifiers tiebreaker. Hayden didn't come home from Winfield without state gold, though. Freshman Ainzley Zulueta topped fellow frosh Breanna Quigley of Bishop Miege for the state singles crown. The Wildcats also got a seventh-place doubles finish from Lauren Sandstrom and Emiley Sheetz. Wellington, meanwhile, rode its doubles teams to its runner-up finish. Jensen Lynnes and Lyric Cornejo finished fourth in doubles and Ashlyn Gerten and Kadynce Aufdengarten were eighth. Buhler and Independence were just outside the top three, each scoring 22 points, each picking up three state placers. Chapman's Elyssa Frieze took third in singles after taking an undefeated record into the state tournament.

2022 Contenders: After winning the third state title in program history (the other coming in 1999 in Class 5A), McPherson will have to reload in a big way to go after a fourth crown. The Bullpups' championship and runner-up doubles teams were made up entirely of seniors a year ago and Berger also has graduated, leaving Kuhn as the lone returner off the state championship team. That leaves the door open for Hayden and Wellington to take their battle with each other to the next stage. Wellington returns both state-placing doubles teams in tact and also returns singles player Kami Reichenberger, who finished eighth at state. Hayden, meanwhile, has the returning singles champion in Zulueta and both doubles qualifying teams, Sandstrom and Sheetz and the tandem of seniors Brihana Barnett and Sloane Sims. Wichita Trinity will also be a factor with last year's third-place doubles team of Darcy Dunne and Sophia Majors back. Even bigger for the Knights is the return of Isabella Sebits, who captured the 4A state singles championship in 2020 and was the favorite again last year before a late-season injury denied her a shot at going after a second straight title. With the potential favorites in both brackets, Trinity has the horses to get it done. Buhler returns both of its state-placing doubles teams in tact with the duo of Olivia Frederick and Kayla Babock placing fifth last year. Chanute also returns both state doubles teams led by the 10th-place duo of Tyra Bogle and Grace Thompson. Quigley will lead Miege, which also returns a state doubles team and singles qualifier Lauren Myers. Independence returns four of its six qualifiers from a year ago, including regional singles champion Ava Morris and runner-up Callie Schlorholtz, both sophomores. The X-factor in the 4A race will be the status of Wichita Collegiate, which captured six straight 4A crowns from 2015-2020 before dropping down to Class 3A last season. If the Spartans return to 4A this fall, they will have a say in the team race.
 

CLASS 3-2-1A

2021 State Champion: Wichita Collegiate

2021 State Runner-up: Smoky Valley

2021 Singles Champion: Emma Mantovani, Wichita Collegiate

2021 Doubles Champions: Lily Conrad/Ella Graham, Wichita Collegiate

2021 Review: No girls' tennis team in the state has been more dominant over the last two decades than Collegiate. Last year's championship was the 13th straight overall for the Spartans, who dropped down to 3-2-1A after winning their previous six crowns in Class 4A. Collegiate made it a clean sweep of the titles as well as Emma Mantovani captured the singles championship and the team of Lily Conrad and Ella Graham won the doubles crown. Collegiate finished with 44 points to more than double up Smoky Valley, which was second with 18 points on the strength of a pair of state-placing doubles teams -- sixth-place Riley Ahlstedt and Lena Rauchholz and eighth-place Karee Adam and Campbell Gaskill. Conway Springs and Wichita Independent tied for third with 16 points each. Conway Springs was led by the runner-up doubles team of Loren May and Haylee Osner while Independent was led by third-place singles finisher Lilly Meier. Ellsworth's Nicole Haase finished runner-up to Mantovani in the singles bracket as Mantovani won her second state title in three years, her crowns sandwiched around a runner-up finish in 4A in 2020.

2022 Contenders: Naturally, it all starts with Collegiate. Mantovani is back to go after her third state singles title and the Spartans also return sophomore Laney Conrad, who finished fifth at state last year. The Spartans will have an entirely new cast of doubles players as graduation claimed all four of last year's qualifiers, but Collegiate's depth has allowed veteran coach Dave Hawley to seamlessly fill those voids year after year with state-caliber athletes. The only other question facing Collegiate is if the Spartans will be in 3-2-1A? Collegiate spent 2015-2020 winning titles in Class 4A and could move back up to 4A this season. If the Spartans return to 4A, the chase for the 3-2-1A crown is a wide-open competition with most of last year's contenders having to fill big holes. Smoky Valley does return three-fourths of last year's state-placing doubles teams with Ahlstedt the lone loss to graduation from the foursome. The Vikings also graduated their lone singles qualifier from last year. Only a handful of other teams return multiple state qualifiers. Sterling has power in doubles with the return of its fourth-place team of Kate Rowland and Karissa Wilson along with qualifying team of Kelsey Webb and Sunny Carder. Osner will be looking for a new partner after the graduation of Loren May and could move to singles with the Cardinals also returning the state-qualifying team of Adrienne May and Janel Meyer. Colby's Hayden Bellamy took an undefeated record into the state tournament in singles play last year and wound up fourth. She returns along with doubles qualifier Samantha Diedrich. Norton's Dylan Hawks and Dahn Hanlon are back after taking third in doubles at state last year. Marysville returns 10th-place singles finisher Shea Kramer and the qualifying doubles team of Kadence Spurgeon and Grace Winkler. The only other teams returning multiple qualifiers are Wichita Classical and Laren, though none of their qualifiers placed at state a year ago. Kansas City Christian won three straight state titles before Collegiate's drop to 3-2-1A last year, but the Panthers didn't have a qualifier a year ago. Sacred Heart tied KC Christian for the 2020 crown, but graduated its fifth-place doubles team of Isabella Matteucci and Katie Weiss.