OLATHE — The secret is out — Eli Ward is no ordinary freshman.  

Actually, it might actually be the worst kept secret in the Kansas state tennis community. 

On Saturday, the Lawrence Free State rising star put an exclamation point on a flawless debut season, capturing the Class 6A singles tennis title and finishing 24-0 — a perfect record for a player who’s just getting started. 

“You know I didn’t have any expectations coming into this year, especially since this was my first year of high school competition,” Ward said. “I was just going to try my best and see what I could do. It paid off, I guess.” 

Yeah, one would say that.  

Ward, who has several years of experience in the United States Tennis Assocation (USTA), gave her best efforts on the high school level and she certainly made her mark as she became Free State’s fourth singles champion in school history and was the No. 1 seed going into tournament play. 

“Eli truly capped a great season,” Free State coach Randy Clark said. “A perfect season is impressive by itself, but the fashion in which she did it was dominant. From my perspective she was only truly challenged in one match, which was the regional championship match. She had a great state tournament, and capped it with a pair of dominant day two wins in the semis over the Olathe Northwest singles players. She was the player playing the best coming into the tournament, and she proved why she was the 1 seed.” 
 

On Friday, Ward earned a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Shawnee Mission East’s Ilah Hull to begin her day and then advanced to the semifinals with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Olathe West’s Lindsay Ruder.  

That set up a pair of matches against Olathe Northwest and she dominated both. Ward defeated Northwest senior Heidi Baillos 6-1 and 6-0 to advance to the title match. 

It was an all-freshman final as Ward faced off against Northwest’s Seraphine Besong. And just like in the semis, Ward took care of business, 6-1 and 6-0. 

Her patience was tested, however, as she had to wait out a 3-plus hour semifinal match between Besong and Olathe North’s Diya Gupta. Besong eventually outlasted Gupta in the 3-set match. 

“I would say there were pros and cons to that,” Ward said of having to wait. “I mean the rest is good for me, but also I need to re-warm up and reset my mind.” 

A fresh and rested Ward was able to do that as she earned a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Besong in the finals to clinch her first high school championship. 

“It is a great honor,” Ward said. “I am really happy that I could pull it out and get the job done. I am just honored to be here. 

“I really just tried to adapt my game to every person that I played. They are all amazing players and it was a tricky, mental battle switching up my game for each one and it just differed based on who I played.” 

As for the Free State team, the Firebirds tied their best finish school history as they earned a state runner-up plaque with 30 points, just eight points behind state champion Olathe Northwest. It was their best finish since 2002, when the Firebirds also took second.  
 

“Coming into the state tournament, and having 3 entries, all of which were seeded was something that put us in a good place if we were able to hold or exceed our seeds, so coming in I recognize we had a good shot,” Clark said. “I wasn't immediately thinking runner-up but I knew our team was strong and playing well at the right time.  

“The girls had a special season being runner-up in what ended up being the toughest regional tournament, and then followed that up with a spectacular team finish, with all 3 entries contributing to our team finish. We don't take runner-up unless all 3 entries contribute points, so it was truly a team effort.” 

Free State senior Cami Lee earned a big win in the second round of tournament action on Friday as Lee, who was seeded 10th, knocked off No. 7 Prisha Dalal from Blue Valley North. Lee eventually fell to Olathe North’s Diya Gupta in the quarterfinals, 6-1, 6-4.  

Lee battled on the back side and eventually medaled seventh after an 8-3 victory over Olathe West’s Lindsay Ruder.  
 

“Cami had a great season, and continued to get better match by match,” Clark said. “She met some adversity at regionals, but battled through it and put herself in a great position to get seeded for the state tournament, and then took advantage of that seed by beating Dalal in match 2 at state. She then made her way through the backside, dropping a match to the ultimately 5th place finisher, but ultimately getting two dominant wins over players she had lost to earlier this year.  

“It was great to see her have that winning mindset going into day two, and finishing out her career with a 7th place medal, which was a major contributing factor to our team runner-up.” 

On the doubles side, the Firebirds also scored points thanks to their team of Taryn Jones and Annie Pilakowski. The Free State duo medaled ninth overall with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Dodge City’s Addisyn Taylor and Emma Bell. 
 

CLASS 6A STATE TENNIS 

At College Boulevard Activity Center 

SINGLES 

Championship – Eli Ward, Lawrence Free State def. Seraphine Besong, Olathe Northwest, 6-1, 6-0. Third place – Diya Gupta, Olathe North def. Heidi Baillos, Olathe Northwest, 6-0, 4-6, 6-2. Fifth place – Penny Reed, Blue Valley North def. Madeline Deters, Topeka High, 8-0. Seventh-place – Cami Lee, Free State def. Lindsay Ruder, Olathe West, 8-3. Ninth place – Hannah Micheel, Junction City, def. Prisha Dalal, Blue Valley North, 8-6. 11th place – Madelynne Abel, Blue Valley Northwest def. Mia Huettenmueller, Olathe East, 8-1