Byng twins capture third place in No. 2 Doubles
May 13—OKLAHOMA CITY — The Byng High School girls tennis program went from nearly not being able to field a full team to having four players compete at the Class 4A State Tournament last weekend inside the Oklahoma City Tennis Center.
The Lady Pirates — a team with Emma Underwood the lone senior — collected six points and finished eighth in the team standings.
"In the fall when school started, I was not sure we would even have a full team for the girls," Byng head coach Toby Sanders recalled.
"I remember telling them that I always want to have a full team, but if we didn't we would go and play the best we can with the team that we had," he said. "Fortunately, we only played one tournament without a full team and at the end had eight girls in grades 9-12 eligible to play."
Still, Sanders had just two players with limited high school experience.
"We only had two with any varsity experience to speak of and three of them had only played in one junior high tournament," Sanders said. "In my opinion, I thought we had a very successful season. We will really miss Emma but I look forward to working with the rest of them and watching them continue to improve."
Holland Hall won the Class 4A state championship with 34 points followed by Henryetta with 17 and Oklahoma Christian with 16.
The No. 2 Doubles team of sisters Harmoni and Hope Moore led the Byng contingent with a third-place finish after knocking off Bailey and Thompson of Henryetta 6-3, 6-2. Minihan and VonTunge of Crossings Christian defeated the BHS duo 6-3, 6-1 in the semifinals.
The twins won their first match against Wagoner's Condict and Harris 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. The Moores also won their quarterfinal match against Lincoln Christian's Draeger and Fears 6-0, 6-1.
Hope and Harmoni finished the season at 18-15.
Underwood's season came to an end with a 1-2 finish in No. 1 Singles. She defeated Natalie Choate of Seminole 7-5, 6-0 in the first round and then dropped a 6-1, 6-0 decision to Reece Compton of Christian Heritage, who went to finish second in the division. Ashley Miller of Oklahoma Bible shut out Underwood in consolation play.
Underwood ended the season at 23-16.
In the No. 2 Singles, CJ Lee also went 1-2.
Lee dropped a tight 7-6, 6-4 decision to Harding Charter's Anna Boevers in the consolation quarterfinals. Emma Kruska of Chisolm topped Lee 6-1, 6-0 in the first round before she bounced back to bounce Kieley Holladay of Wagoner 6-1, 7-6 in the second round.
Lee ended the spring at 19-16.
The Lady Pirates were also named the Class 4A State academic champions after combining for a 4.0 GPA.
