By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
LINDSBORG, Kan. – Fort Hays State Tennis opened its 2021-22 season on Saturday (Sept. 11) at the Bethany College Invitational. The tournament consisted of two doubles draws and four singles draws. Fiorella Mendez and Maria Paz Diaz turned in a perfect start to the season by topping the A bracket in doubles action.
Mendez and Diaz turned in a 3-0 record for the day to top the doubles field. They opened their run through the tournament with a 6-3 win over Morales and Blough of Concordia University (Neb.). In the semifinals, they cruised to a 6-2 win over Macke and Van der Torre of Doane University (Neb.). They capped their performance with a 6-4 win over Weston and Lima of Doane University in the finals.
Also playing in the A bracket of doubles action for FHSU were Kylie Aufdengarten and Aliyah Frederick. They fell to Weston and Lima of Doane in their first match 6-2, but bounced back for 6-3 win over Hosick and Ferrel of Concordia in consolation action to finish 1-1 for the day.
In doubles Draw B, sisters Hope Lubbers and Heidi Lubbers teamed up but lost their only match played to Shelton and Yutzy of Tabor College.
In singles play, Mendez posted a third-place finish in Draw A, while Diaz finished sixth in the same bracket. Mendez edged Olivia Brubacher of Tabor College 8-6 to start the day, but fell to Marketa Beladova of Iowa Central Community College in the semifinals. She rebounded for an 8-5 win over Amber Weston of Doane in the third-place match. Diaz went 1-2 for the day, opening with an 8-2 loss to Weston of Doane. She picked up her first singles win as a Tiger with an 8-2 win over Tara Ferrel of Concordia. Diaz then lost to Brubacher of Tabor 8-4 in the fifth-place match.
Aufdengarten and Frederick both played in Draw B for singles. Aufdengarten posted a record of 2-1 on her way to fifth place in the bracket. She fell to Tessa Blough of Concordia in the quarterfinals 8-3, but came back to win her two consolation matches. She defeated Liz Van der Torre of Doane 8-4 and then Emma Semery of Iowa Central 8-7 in a tight match that went to a tiebreak. Frederick went 0-3 for the day, falling to Lily Wait of Tabor 8-4, Semery of Iowa Central 8-5, and Van der Torre of Doane 8-6.
In Draw C of singles, Heidi Lubbers went 2-1 for the day for a third-place finish in her bracket. She defeated Jordyn Trombley of Bethany 8-4, fell to Marisol Blair of Tabor 8-3, then topped teammate Gracen Friess in the third-place match 4-1 as Friess retired from the match. Friess finished fourth, going 1-2 for the day. She defeated Nina Ngo of Doane 8-6, then fell to Brylee Lauby of Doane 8-5 and Lubbers as mentioned earlier.
Hope Lubbers went 1-2 in Draw D of singles play. She fell to Kailyn Groski of Doane 8-3 and Lubehile Moyo of Iowa Central 8-4. She took seventh in her bracket by defeating Tara Stewart of Tabor 8-3.
The Tigers now look forward to a matchup with Sterling College on Tuesday (Sept. 14) in Hays. The first home event of the season begins at 3 pm at the FHSU Tennis Courts.