SALINA – After getting word that Ellsworth had already clinched the team title shortly before their doubles final, there was only one thing left to accomplish for Reygan Coonrod and Inarie Rippert.
Coonrod and Rippert had finished runner-up in each of the last two years and had one last chance at a championship together.
“We both told each other, the team's done it and now we just need to focus on ourselves,” Coonrod said. “We just need to do this for ourselves right now.”
After splitting a pair of matches with Conway Springs’ Morgan and Sadie Koester in the regular season, Coonrod and Rippert won the rubber match, securing the doubles championship with a 6-4, 6-3 win in the final on Saturday at Salina Tennis Center.
“We knew it was gonna be a very tough match,” Rippert said. “It meant so much to us, and it's my last year, so I wanted to leave everything on the court and do my best, do our best. And that's what we did.”
It punctuated a dream season for the Bearcats, who captured their first state team title with 44 points, eight points ahead of second-place Conway Springs. Karli Haase was state runner-up in singles and the Bearcats also got a sixth-place singles finish from Hannah Vague and a 10th-place doubles showing from Makenna Anderson and Felis De La Cruz.
“We have an amazing set of goals, and an amazing set of girls,” Rippert said. “We just kept building.”
Ellsworth's Inarie Rippert, right, and Reygan Coonrod embrace after winning the 3-2-1A doubles title.
Coonrod and Rippert used a service break to clinch the first set of the title match. They found a groove in the second set, building a 5-2 lead. The Koesters held serve to stay alive before the Bearcats finished it out on their serve.
Coonrod and Rippert combated the length of the Koester cousins at the net with effective lob shots over the top.
“We knew they both come to the net, so we were going to have to fight them at the net or we were gonna have to lob it over,” Rippert said. “We worked on that a lot and we knew we were going to do it, so we were prepared.”
Coonrod took a hard spill on the court early in the second set, scuffing up her knee while getting to a ball.
“I had too much adrenaline going to really feel it,” Coonrod said.
After Coonrod took a few seconds to gather herself, Rippert could be heard offering words of encouragement.
“I love you. Thank you for your commitment,” Rippert said.
Ellsworth coach Eric Anderson said he’s seen that scenario play out often during the three seasons Coonrod and Rippert have played together.
“That is a typical thing for Reygan. Reygan always gives it her all,” Anderson said. “You see it at least once a meet that she's laying on the ground somewhere, or she's running into a fence. It's just the way she is.
“And then Inarie tries to get her refocused again and get her to bounce back up and go again.”
Anderson said it was a relief to see Coonrod and Rippert break through for the title after the back-to-back runner-up showings. They finished 34-1 this season.
“It just feels tremendous,” Anderson said. “They put in a lot of effort. They've been under a lot of stress all season long, because they just had expectations this year of winning it, and to see it come to fruition, it just means the world to me and to them.”
“Their relationship is just awesome. They're like sisters. You see them walk around at tennis meets holding hands. They can rely on each other. It is just a great bond.”
Ellsworth's Inarie Rippert hit a shot during the doubles title match.
Ellsworth's Reygan Coonrod hits a return during the doubles final.
Haase finished her season 32-3 with all three losses to Sterling’s Chelsie Brown, who notched back-to-back undefeated seasons. Brown defeated Haase 6-1, 6-2 in the final.
“For Karli just to make it to the state finals was a great accomplishment and to get to play Chelsie, who she's played so many times over the last three years,” Anderson said. “To have fun with it was just a great, great thing to see at the end.”
Vague officially clinched the team title for the Bearcats with an 8-2 win over Conway Springs’ Addison Rusco on the consolation side before ultimately taking sixth.
“Hannah was under a lot of pressure last week at regionals,” Anderson said. “She lost a match the first day that I didn't think she should have. She was just really nervous, and it showed, and she bounced back on Day 2. We walked in on Saturday morning, and I looked at her face to face, and she gave me a nod and a fist bump, and I knew everything was gonna be okay. It was the same thing (on Day 2 at state). I knew that she was going to be all right.”
The Bearcats’ No. 2 doubles team of Makenna Anderson and De La Cruz hit its stride late in the season.
“They’ve come so far since the beginning of the season,” Eric Anderson said. “They struggled early on to develop the chemistry. It really didn't happen until all of a sudden they went on a run at our two home meets and then at regionals and it just carried through to this weekend.”
Conway Springs’ Koesters finished their senior seasons with a 28-5 record. They defeated Wichita Classical’s Mia Brown and Leonora Neumann 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals before meeting Coonrod and Rippert in the final for the season’s rubber match.
“We're going to be up in the net and they're going to be hitting lobs and putting balls in play,” Conway Springs coach Chris Bellar said. “And so we've got to be able to finish points, and we just didn't quite finish good enough. Give them credit for playing their game and playing it well.
“But we battled and competed, and sometimes that's all you can do.”
Conway Springs' Morgan Koester hits a shot during the 3-2-1A doubles final.
Conway Springs' Sadie Koester hits a shot during the doubles final.
Conway Springs' No. 2 doubles team of Madelyn Stevens and Hayley Pauly reached the semis before losing a 6-0, 7-5 decision to Coonrod and Rippert. They bounced back for a third-place finish with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Wichita Classical’s Brown and Neumann.
The runner-up Cardinals also got a seventh-place finish from Rusco in singles.
“I could not be prouder,” Bellar said. “We had five seniors and a junior here, and accomplished all the goals this year that we didn't meet last year. To get second as a team is awesome. Always thought Ellsworth was the team to beat. We stuck in there until the last day.
“It was a great season. I’m proud of them up and down the line. They're tremendous kids.”
Classical took third as a team, led by Brown and Neumann’s fourth-place effort in doubles.
Ellsworth’s title came after the Bearcats took runner-up last year to Wichita Collegiate, which moved up to 4A this season.
Rippert and De La Cruz are seniors but the Bearcats will still have a strong nucleus back next year with Haase, Coonrod, Vague and Anderson.
“It's a huge moment for us,” Anderson said. “This year we came in as the favorites, and it's a lot of pressure. I put a lot of pressure on the girls every day at practice. And it's just so nice to see it come to fruition here. There were nerves, lots of nerves coming in (Friday). We talked as a team and said: We just needed to be us. And that's what it came down to.”
Ellsworth captured the 3-2-1A team title.
CLASS 3-2-1A
Team Scores
Ellsworth 44, Conway Springs 36, Wichita Classical 23, Sterling 22, Central Plains 19, Larned 18, Cair Paravel 12, Osborne 10, Phillipsburg 10, Haven 7, Trego 7, Russell 7, Wabaunsee 4, Silver Lake 2, Meade 2.
Singles
Championship – Chelsie Brown, Sterling def. Karli Haase, Ellsworth, 6-1, 6-2. Third place – Madilyn Poole, Cair Paravel def. Ani Doom, Wichita Classical, 6-4, 6-1. Fifth place – Lauren Sleder, Larned def. Hannah Vague, Ellsworth, 8-4. Seventh place – Addison Rusco, Conway Springs def. Anna-Marie Marsell, Russell, 9-8 (3). Ninth place – Valorie Solida, Phillipsburg def. Kenzie Popp, Haven, 8-1. 11th place – Eliza Jeffrey, Central Plains def. Gabriella Poels, Philipsburg, 8-2.
Doubles
Championship – Inarie Rippert/Reygan Coonrod, Ellsworth def. Morgan Koester/Sadie Koester, Conway Springs, 6-4, 6-3. Third place – Madelyn Stevens/Hayley Pauly, Conway Springs def. Mia Brown/Leonora Neumann, Wichita Classical, 6-3, 6-1. Fifth place – Leavie Riner/Gentrie Riner, Osborne def. Emery Siemsen/Ashtyn Robl, Central Plains. 8-1. Seventh place – Cassie Manry/Maggie Haas, Larned def. Annika Dietz and Trista Smith, Trego, 8-6. Ninth place – Jaiden Jaeger/Danika Zimmerman, Sterling def. Makenna Anderson/Felis De La Cruz, Ellsworth, 8-5. 11th place – Boston Robison/Aevyn Siemsen, Central Plains, def. Sarah Pruitt/Quinn Sramek, Marantha Academy 8-4.