15 CLASS 4A GIRLS TENNIS PLAYERS TO WATCH IN 2024
 

KADYNCE AUFDENGARTEN, WELLINGTON
 
A new partnership last fall produced a third career state doubles medal for Aufdengarten, who finished eighth in Class 4A doubles with rising junior Logan Robinson. Aufdengarten, who has 80 of her 81 career victories in doubles, finished eighth at state as a freshman and 11^th as a sophomore with Ashlyn Gerten. She and Robinson maintained that consistency, finishing second to Crusader teammates Cruz and Lyric Cornejo in the Scott City regional. With three of the four returning, Aufdengarten’s father, coach Brian Aufdengarten, enters the season undecided on 2024 roles.
 

AVERY BAER, CHAPMAN

Entering her third year as a fixture in Chapman's starting lineup, Baer is coming off a sophomore season that saw her team with Tanith Elliott to post a 22-12 record that culminated with a 10th-place finish at the Class 4A state tournament. The duo won four tournament titles during the regular season as well, and also took second at the North Central Kansas League meet. Baer owns a 27-17 doubles record in her career as well as a 12-9 singles record. With Elliott graduating Baer could have returned to singles play where she was a state qualifier as a freshman. Instead, she will team with fellow junior Meredith Kuntz, who has played singles the past two seasons.
 

CRUZ CORNEJO, WELLINGTON
 
Cornejo made up for lost time after an injury wiped out her freshman season. She partnered with older sister Lyric last fall to post a 28-7 record and a sixth-place finish in Class 4A doubles. The Cornejos won five tournaments, including the Scott City regional final over teammates Kadynce Aufdengarten and Logan Robinson. The duo posted a 3-2 record at state. With Lyric graduated, the Crusaders will search for Cruz’s best option moving forward.
 

ELLA DANIEL, BISHOP MIEGE
 
Daniel quickly rose up the 4A ranks as a freshman last season. She won a regional title in singles before ultimately finishing third at state, finishing the year with a 23-7 record. Although her win over Hayden’s Grace Funk in the regional finals was not enough to give her team the nod over the Wildcats in that team race, Daniel’s state performance helped elevate the Stags in that team race. Miege held off Chapman and Hayden for a third-place trophy. Daniel reached the semifinals before losing 6-2, 6-1 to the eventual state champion in Chapman’s Elyssa Frieze. Daniel beat Wichita Trinity Academy’s Sophia Majors 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in the third-place match.
 

 
ABBIE GORMAN, FORT SCOTT
 
Gorman defeated both of McPherson’s Sandbo sisters at the state tournament, with only a state quarterfinals loss to Bishop Miege’s Ella Daniel in between those wins. Gorman would not be able to add to her success as she lost to Chanute’s Rylee Smith and Pratt’s Bailey Jackson on the way to an eighth-place finish. She will return for her junior season looking to build off her 26-7 campaign.
 

 

BROOKLYN MATTIX AND CALLIE SCHLORHOLTZ, INDEPENDENCE
 
Mattix and Schlorholtz reached the third-place match for the second straight year after finishing fourth in 2022. This time, the duo faced a very familiar opponent. Mattix and Schlorholtz went up against their teammates, senior sisters Ellie and Hannah Kippenberger. The younger duo won their clash in the SEK League final, only for the Kippenbergers to pull out a 6-3, 5-7, 5-7 win in the regional final. The result was also a reversal of the result from the 2022 regional final when Mattix and Schlorholtz beat their teammates 6-0, 6-2. But in this final showdown before the Kippenbergers graduated, Mattix and Schlorholtz pulled out a 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory to take third. But all four competitors would get to celebrate anyway as they helped lead their team to the 4A state title, the program’s first since 2014.
 

AVA MORRIS, INDEPENDENCE
 
Morris had a breakout year in 2023 as she earned a state runner-up finish in singles and ended the year with a 31-4 record. Back for her senior campaign, Morris will look to finish her high school career by leading her Bulldogs to a second straight state title, and maybe a singles title as well. After winning her SEK League and regional championships, Morris controlled the action throughout her state run until the finals. She would end up losing to Chapman’s Elyssa Frieze 6-3, 6-0.
 

ELISE RICHARDSON, AUGUSTA
 
Richardson has trended upward throughout her career, going from a Class 4A state singles qualifier as a freshman to an 11^th place finish in 2022 to fifth last October. After a quarterfinal loss to eventual runner-up Ava Morris of Independence, Richardson clawed her way through the consolation bracket to earn her best career finish. Richardson posted a 22-8 record last season, finishing second to eventual 4A champion Elyssa Frieze of Chapman at the Buhler regional. She has a 56-29 career singles record, including a 9-6 state tournament mark with a 3-0 record in opening-round matches.
 

LOGAN ROBINSON, WELLINGTON
 
Robinson enters her junior season as a returning state placer, teaming with Kadynce Aufdengarten to finish eighth in Class 4A doubles in her first state appearance. Robinson finished last fall with a 23-14 record – all in doubles – after going 13-17 in singles as a freshman. She collected three tournament victories in 2023 and a runner-up regional finish, and aided the Crusaders’ sixth-place team finish at state.
 

MARYN SANDBO, MCPHERSON
 
After helping McPherson finish second in Class 4A to Independence in 2023, Sandbo enters her junior season as the Bullpups’ seasoned veteran. She posted a 26-7 singles record a year ago, finishing 10^th at state – one spot behind her older sister Kyndall, who edged her in their season finale. Kyndall graduated along with state doubles runner-up Riggs Kuhn. With Riggs’ sister and playing partner, Brodie, focusing on golf this fall, Sandbo’s role figures to be heightened. She has delivered so far with a 49-16 career singles mark and two state appearances.
 

 
EMILY SHEETZ, HAYDEN
 
A two-time state champion in Class 4A doubles, Sheetz will be looking for a new partner this season after the graduation of her three-year sidekick, Lauren Sandstrom. The duo placed seventh at state in 2021 before capturing the state championship each of the past two falls. They went 34-4 in winning the 2022 championship and then posted a 33-3 mark last year when they defended their title with a dominating 6-1, 6-4 win over McPherson’s Brodie and Riggs Kuhn in the title match. Sheetz and Sandstrom compiled a 92-14 mark in their three years together. There’s a chance Sheetz could move to singles to give Hayden a big-time 1-2 punch there with two-time state champion Ainzley Zulueta also back, but more than likely will head up the Wildcats’ No. 1 doubles team.
 

RYLEE SMITH, CHANUTE
 
Smith turned in a 25-7 record during her junior campaign as she earned a sixth-place finish at state last year. She fell to the backside of the bracket after losing to the eventual state champion in Chapman’s Elyssa Frieze. Smith beat Gorman 8-4 to reach the fifth-place match. This was Smith’s third victory over Gorman on the season, although it was a revenge match after Gorman bested her in the regional semifinals in a 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7-3) match. Smith took sixth and finished the year with a 25-7 record.
 

LONDYN SOTO, CIRCLE
 
Soto’s senior season promises to offer something different after she medaled with Kya Thornton in Class 4A doubles each of the last two years. Thornton graduated after the duo improved from eighth in 2022 to fifth last October, tying a school record for single-season doubles victories with 27. Soto also reached state her freshman year, qualifying with Laynie Glaves and posting an 11-8 mark with three different partners. Soto and Thornton, 17-11 in the first year of their partnership, concluded their two-year run with a second-place regional finish and 4-1 record at state, topping Wellington’s Cruz and Lyric Cornejo in the fifth-place match.
 

 
AINZLEY ZULUETA, HAYDEN
 
An offseason eligibility issue denied Zulueta a chance to go after the Class 4A singles three-peat after she captured state titles as both a freshman and sophomore. Zulueta posted a 32-5 record as a freshman and then went 28-2 as a sophomore in 2022, helping Hayden capture its first team championship that year as well. She’ll return as the heavy favorite to reclaim her throne this season as a senior, even with the return of last year’s state runner-up, Independence’s Ava Morris, and third-place finisher Ella Daniel of Bishop Miege.