Hosting the Class 5A regional tournament for the first time, Durant’s high school tennis teams qualified every member for state with the Lady Lions claiming eighth in the team standings.
The Lady Lions number two doubles tandem of Anslee Morse and Kenzee Petty led that charge with a sixth place finish in the state bracket after coming in second in regionals.
That pair dropped an opening round decision to newcomer Riverfield before bouncing Lawton Mac, 6-1, 6-2, as well as Guthrie in a tiebreaker after rallying from a 4-6 deficit in the first set before forging a 6-4 triumph in the second. They fell 6-0, 6-1 to Duncan in the fifth place finale.
Ella Sorrels contributed an eighth place state effort at number two singles following a regional runner-up effort as well.
She opened the state tournament with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Anastasia Denysenko of Claremore ahead of a 6-0, 6-3 quarterfinal defeat to Lily Koontz from Holland Hall. Sorrels rebounded to turn back Tahlequah’s Avery Bynum in straight sets (6-3, 6-3) before falling to Ava Miller from Duncan (6-2, 6-4) in the seventh-place match.
The Lady Lions’ number doubles duo of Jacee Bentley and Ryley Summitt scored one consolation round victory, stopping Shawnee (6-4, 6-4) while going 1-2 in the state event. The Lions’ number one boys doubles pairing of Jackson Tiffie and Dylan Wickersham had a similar 1-2 finish, splitting a pair of defeats with a 6-4, 6-3 triumph against Claremore.
Bentley and Summitt took third in regionals with Tiffie and Wickersham ending fourth.
Durant’s number one girls singles player Hadley Perrin took third in regional play but lost both matches at state.
On the boys’ side, number one singles player Ace Richardson ended fourth in the regional action with Isaiah Munoz tallying a third place effort at number two singles. Both came up just short of victories at state.
The number two doubles pairing of Nathan Bull and Kaleb Powell also took third in regionals to qualify but fell in both state tournament matches as well.