CLASS 5A GIRLS TENNIS PLAYERS TO WATCH IN 2025
 

ASHLEY ANDERSON, SPRING HILL
 
Anderson was a first-time state qualifier last fall, reaching the Class 5A state tournament with doubles partner Brynna Pierson after a fourth-place finish at the Broncos’ regional tournament. The duo took a 20-11 mark into the state tourney and after falling in the first round to a team from Newton, they won two straight matches in the consolation bracket to clinch a state medal. Two straight losses sent them to the 11th-place match where they capped a 23-15 season with a win over Seaman’s Peyton Henry and Sidney Chinn. Pierson graduated last May so Anderson will be looking for a new partner to try to get back to state with.
  

 

 
LIZA DUGAN AND BROOKE STEVEN, BISHOP CARROLL
 
Dugan, a senior, and Steven, a junior, begin the third year of their partnership with a 51-23 record and looking to build on the momentum of a fifth-place finish in last year’s Class 5A doubles. The two-time Greater Wichita Athletic League champions rebounded from a state quarterfinal loss to eventual runners-up Emma Jittawait and Ada Tantemsomboon of Andover to run the table in the consolation bracket and completed the 2024 season at 28-11. Their fifth-place finish matched their showing the previous week at a challenging Maize South regional, which produced six of the top eight state finishers. The Carroll duo finished eighth at state in 2023, helping the Golden Eagles earn a third-place team trophy.
 

 
MOLLY GORMAN, SEAMAN
 
Having enjoyed a successful doubles career in her first two seasons with partner Katie Krummins, compiling a 46-7 record and placing top 12 twice (seventh in 2023), Gorman proved she’s a more than capable singles player as well last fall. Moving to singles to give Seaman a strong 1-2 punch along with Emma Sweeney, Gorman put together a 29-7 record and placed 10th at the state tournament. Gorman was regional runner-up to Sweeney and won the United Kansas Conference title at No. 2 singles in helping the Vikings to the league team title.
 

 
PEYTON HENRY, SEAMAN
 
Henry moved into the Vikings’ starting lineup in doubles play last year, partnering with returning singles state qualifier Sidney Chinn. The two held down Seaman’s No. 1 spot last year and captured United Kansas Conference and Class 5A regional titles, taking a 23-5 mark into the state tournament. They won their first match before falling in the second round, but then came back to win their first two consolation matches to clinch a state medal, eventually settling for a 12th-place showing. Chinn has graduated but everyone else returns for the Vikings, who qualified their entire team for state, sweeping the top-two spots at regionals in singles and doubles. Henry could partner with returning doubles players Camryn Lux, a two-time qualifier who placed at state in 2023, or Kaylyn Hiebsch, who went 23-10 with Lux last year.
 

 

CAROLINE AND CHLOE HOCKER, KAPAUN MT. CARMEL
 
After falling one victory shy of a state tournament berth as freshmen, the Hocker twins made significant strides last season, finishing fourth in Class 5A doubles to help Kapaun post a second-place team finish. The Crusader duo’s 22-12 record wasn’t vastly different than the 19-11 mark they posted in 2023. But after finishing second at No. 1 doubles in the Greater Wichita Athletic League meet, the Hockers took third at the Maize South regional to qualify for state, then knocked off higher seeds Kinsley Foth and Claire Renfro of Salina Central to reach the 5A semifinals. Eventual champions Biz Gaddis and Nadia Kaewsai of Andover derailed their title bid to open Day 2, but with both Trojans now graduated, the Hockers join a strong group of returning tandems looking to climb to the top. 
 

 
CLARA HOCKER, KAPAUN MT. CARMEL
 
Hocker, the older sister of Kapaun’s doubles tandem of Caroline and Chloe, has been part of the Crusaders’ varsity lineup since her freshman year. The lone senior among Kapaun’s state returnees, Hocker made her first state singles appearance last fall and finished eighth in Class 5A. Her 25-11 record included a runner-up finish in the Greater Wichita Athletic League tournament and fifth-place finish at regionals. Hocker also reached state in doubles with Jayla Johnson as a freshman, posting a 10^th-place finish that included an upset of regional champions Kinsley Foth and Claire Renfro of Salina Central in the round of 16. Hocker moved to singles as a sophomore, posting a 15-10 record and finishing one victory shy of a state berth.
 

LOGAN JAGOLINZER, BISHOP CARROLL
 
After missing the state tournament as a sophomore, Jagolinzer returned and claimed her second Class 5A medal in singles last season, posting a 29-10 record and finishing sixth. Jagolinzer was fifth at state as a freshman, but was unable to get through the challenging south central Kansas regional in 2023. Jagolinzer atoned last fall by leading Carroll to the Greater Wichita Athletic League title as the No. 1 singles champion, then finished fourth at regionals. One of three returning state qualifiers for the Golden Eagles, she’ll try to help them improve on a fifth-place team finish this fall.
 

 
MIA JARAMILLO, ANDOVER
 
Jaramillo enters her senior season as the top returning Class 5A singles finisher from last year’s state tournament. She earned her third state medal – a career-best third place – after a semifinal loss to eventual runner-up Jensen Gibbs of Blue Valley Southwest. Jaramillo helped Andover capture its fourth consecutive 5A team title with her 27-5 record, raising her career singles mark to 77-21. She finished fourth at state as a freshman and sixth as a sophomore before ending last season with a regional runner-up finish and a three-set victory over Seaman’s Emma Sweeney in her state finale.
 

EMMA JITTAWAIT AND ADA TANTEMSOMBOON, ANDOVER
 
Jittawait and Tantemsomboon completed the first season of their doubles partnership last fall with a 33-4 record and second-place finish in Class 5A, falling to now-graduated teammates Biz Gaddis and Nadia Kaewsai in the championship. The younger Trojan tandem produced two victories over the champs, however, including one at the Ark Valley-Chisholm Trail II tournament. Jittawait, now a senior, finished third in 5A doubles with Gaddis as a sophomore while Tantemsomboon, a junior, missed her first high school season with an injury. Their state run last year included a memorable 6-4, 0-6, 7-6 (6) semifinal comeback victory over Salina Central’s Addi and Mallory Renfro in which they trailed 2-5 in the final set.
 

JULIA JUDKINS, KAPAUN MT. CARMEL
 
Judkins, a junior, helped Kapaun take second in Class 5A last season with her second straight top-12 singles finish. She posted a 15-8 record and placed 11^th to join teammate Clara Hocker (eighth) as singles medalists. Judkins, who finished sixth at regionals, won the Greater Wichita Athletic League No. 2 singles title. Judkins was Kapaun’s lone state qualifier as a freshman, finishing 10^th. Her 3-3 record at state gave her a 17-10 mark for the season. 
 

 
LILLY KALNY AND CAROLINE KMETZ, ST. JAMES ACADEMY
 
Kalny and Kmetz were both first-time state qualifiers in doubles in 2023, though not as teammates. Kmetz teamed with Kalny’s older sister, Holli, to place fourth at the Class 5A state tournament while Kalny qualified with Addison Fogarty and went 0-2. With Fogarty and Holli Kalny both graduating, Kmetz and Lilly Kalny formed the Thunder’s top doubles team last year and captured a Class 5A regional title with a win over teammates Avery and Delaney Neuer in the finals. After opening state with a win, Kmetz and Kalny fell in the second round. They came up one win shy of earning a state medal, finishing the season with a 25-10 record.
 

KALI KEOUGH, EMPORIA
 
One of the top returning singles players in Class 5A last year after placing fourth at state in 2023, Keough battled injuries all last season that limited her to only a handful of regular-season tournaments and hampered her bid to match her 2023 state showing. After a regional runner-up finish to Valley Center’s Allison Munhall, Keough was just the No. 12 seed in the state singles draw and won her first match before falling to Seaman’s Emma Sweeney in the second round. After winning her first two consolation bracket matches, Keough fell to Bishop Carroll’s Logan Jagolinzer in the consolation quarterfinals and wound up settling for a ninth-place state finish, ending with a 15-6 record. Healthy this fall, Keough will look to get back to the form that helped her win more than 50 matches her first two seasons combined.
 

ALLISON MUNHALL, VALLEY CENTER

Munhall, a senior, collected her first state medal in her second Class 5A appearance last season, finishing seventh in singles after winning the Salina Central regional. Munhall took that title with a victory over Emporia’s Kali Keough in the championship. At state, Munhall fell to Kapaun’s Clara Hocker in the round of 16, but avenged the loss in a rematch for seventh to complete her season with a 33-7 record. Munhall, who also won the Valley Center Invitational, went 9-18 as a freshman and 17-19 as a sophomore. She dropped both of her matches in the 2023 state tournament.
 

AVERY NEUER AND DELANEY NEUER, ST. JAMES ACADEMY
 
A singles state qualifier as a sophomore in 2023, Delaney Neuer had a natural doubles partner emerge when freshman sister Avery joined the program last fall. The two didn’t immediately hit the ground running, but once they paired, they got on a nice roll. After finishing runner-up at regionals to Thunder teammates Caroline Kmetz and Lilly Kalny, the Neuers ended up being St. James’ top finishing doubles team at state. They fell in the second round after winning their first match but then won two straight matches in the consolation bracket to clinch a state medal. They wound up placing 10th after falling to Newton’s Natalie Hershberger and Carlie Franz to finish with a 17-7 overall record. The Neuers will battle Kmetz and Kalny for St. James’ top doubles position this year with both teams returning.
 

 
EMMA SWEENEY, SEAMAN
 
Coming off a solid freshman season that saw her finish 11th in the Class 5A state singles draw, Sweeney took things to another level last year as a sophomore. She only suffered three losses during the regular season and captured the United Kansas Conference title before also beating teammate Molly Gorman for a Class 5A regional title. Earning the No. 5 seed at state, Sweeney topped 2023 fourth-place finisher Kali Keough of Emporia in the second round and then knocked off No. 4 seed Maggie Harrison of Maize South 6-2, 6-1 in the quarterfinals. Sweeney fell 6-3, 6-0 to eventual state champion Molly Gaddis of Andover in the semifinals and then lost in three sets to Gaddis’ teammate, Mia Jarmillo, in the third-place match to finish fourth and with an overall season record of 30-5 record. The younger sister of former 5A singles runner-up and doubles state champion Lauren Sweeney, Emma will be one of the favorites to win the singles title this year with Gaddis and runner-up Jensen Gibbs of Blue Valley Southwest both having graduated.

NOTE: Classifications for the 2025-26 school year had not been released at the time of publication. Players featured could potentially fall into a different classification once those have been determined.