Kansas high school girls tennis state: Bishop Carroll’s Brynn Steven achieves perfection
Coming from a family that has produced so many tennis state champions in Wichita over the years, it would be easy for Brynn Steven to feel pressure to live up to those expectations.
Entering her senior year at Bishop Carroll, she knew she had the potential to do something special — something that would make her stand out even in her family.
“I just put a lot on myself with college in the back of my mind, and I had a lot of goals I wanted to do for this season,” Steven said. “I never felt any pressure from my family. They were so supportive. It was definitely more self-applied pressure.”
Steven put so much pressure on herself and proved she was up for every challenge that came her way this season, which culminated with a second straight singles championship at the Class 5A girls tennis state tournament in Salina this past Saturday.
Not only did Steven become a two-time state champion, she finished the season with a perfect 29-0 record that included victories over the eventual state champions from Class 6A (Blue Valley West’s Sara Yan) and Class 3-1A (Collegiate’s Leah de Carvalho).
“Being a two-time champion and going undefeated, that’s going to put your name in the mix with all of the greats,” Carroll coach Darren Huslig said. “She comes from a tennis family, and I know they don’t put pressure on her, but at the same time you have to think it’s always there for her. The way she handled that this year was great. That’s why I would put Brynn up there with anybody.”
It was a dominant season start to finish for Steven, who remains uncommitted in her recruiting process.
She only dropped 44 games in a total of 29 matches, winning handily in every match. At the state tournament, she only dropped a single game in the first set of her four matches. She clinched her second title with a 6-0, 6-4 win in the finals over Shawnee Heights junior Jette Glasenapp.
“My mental game is probably what grew the most this season,” Steven said. “I feel like I’ve always been able to fundamentally play with someone, but my downfall has always been the mental side. I feel like I grew a lot with that over this season and I was able to close the door better than I have in the past.”
There’s not an area of Steven’s game to pick at, which is why Huslig said it was so difficult for opponents this season.
“She is just so good at being able to control her spots,” Huslig said. “Her ability to control her shots and the overall pace on her ground strokes, it just puts a lot of pressure on opponents. If you left a ball out in the middle, she was going to just take over the point.”
Steven finished her career as a two-time individual champion, as well as a team champion when the Golden Eagles won the state title in 2020 during her freshman year. She helped lead Carroll to a third-place finish at this year’s state tournament, as the team also received points from the top doubles team of Brooke Steven and Liza Dugan, which placed eighth.
“It’s good because now I can take this to (family gatherings at) Christmas and Thanksgiving and have one up on people,” Steven said laughing. “There’s some talk within the family about who’s best. It’s all just a joke, but this will be nice. It’s definitely something I’m looking forward to telling my kids some day.”
Andover wins third straight 5A team title, as doubles team finishes perfect
A perfect season was something Andover coach Steve Alexander believed was possible this summer for his top doubles team of Anna Jittawait and Brooke Walker.
There were certainly some nervy moments throughout the season, but the partnership prevailed time and time again. Their biggest challenge may have come in the semifinals against their own teammates, as Emma Jittawait and Biz Gaddis took the first set.
But in the end, Anna Jittawait and Walker, who is committed to play Division I basketball at Utah, were up for every challenge. After rallying to win the final two sets against their own teammates in the semifinals, the duo cruised in the final in a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Maize South’s Madelyn Fellows and Sydney Schumaker to cap off a 30-0 season with a state championship.
“I felt like the last two years they deserved a state title and fell a little short, so seeing them win that doubles title was the happiest moment of my season,” Alexander said. “They had this fire in them all season and they weren’t going to let anything stop them. They believed in each other and they fought for each other. They’ve worked so hard for so long and they deserved that.”
The doubles title was the cherry on top of another championship season for Andover, which won its third straight 5A team title with 49 points — more than doubling the runner-up.
Emma Jittawait and Gaddis ended up third in the doubles field, while junior Molly Gaddis (third) and sophomore Mia Jaramillo (sixth) both placed in singles.
“It’s kind of a relief when we won because there was a lot of pressure on the girls with everyone expecting them to do it,” Alexander said. “But the girls handled the pressure well all year long. At the end, we could breathe a sigh of relief and really let go and celebrate. We had a nice team dinner back in Wichita and there was a lot of laughter. It was a great end to the season.”
Other local state medalists in singles included Maize South junior Maggie Harrison (eighth), Maize junior Rylee Frye (ninth) and Kapaun Mt. Carmel freshman Julia Judkins (10th), while state medalists in doubles featured Eisenhower seniors Leah Wilkinson and Leila Kral (ninth).
New coach, same result for Collegiate with another 3-1A title
The championship machine that has been the Collegiate tennis program added more titles to its collection, this time under a new championship-winning coach.
No one can match the resume of Dave Hawley, who combined to win 59 team state championships before retiring last spring, but first-year coach Simon Norman, who won a combined eight titles at Independent, knows a thing or two about championship tennis.
The Spartans dominated the Class 3-1A tournament in Topeka, racking up 50 points to win their 15th straight team title.
“I’ve won state before, but this one is special because I enjoy working with these girls; we had fantastic parents, the school was really supportive and I just really enjoyed everything about the atmosphere at Collegiate,” Norman said.
The doubles pairing of Laney Conrad and Julia Herrman, both juniors, successfully defended their state title with a 6-0, 6-4 win over Ellsworth’s Reygan Coonrod and Inarie Rippert in the finals. Conrad and Herrman finished with a 30-3 record.
“They were totally focused when they got on for their matches and they rose to whatever situation was put in front of them,” Norman said. “They had more pressure this year because they won it last year, but they handled it well.”
Sophomore Lara de Carvalho was dominant in winning the 3-1A singles crown, dropping a total of nine games in four matches to cap off a 25-4 season.
Collegiate also had medalists in Amelia Blackman (fifth in singles) and Tatum Downing and Langley Overman (seventh in doubles).
“Lara just has a complete game,” Norman said. “She’s got a great serve, good ground strokes and can come in and finish with a volley. Other girls are pretty good but might be lacking in one of those aspects, and Lara just has a complete game. And that’s what sort of puts her ahead of the pack.”
Another local highlight was the play of a pair of sophomore twins from Conway Springs, as Morgan and Sadie Koester avenged a loss at regionals to top Collegiate’s pairing of Downin and Overman with a third-set victory in the quarterfinals. After losing to the eventual champions in the semifinals, the Koester sisters bounced back for a straight-set win over Hesston’s duo of senior Kori Kramer and sophomore Elyse Griffin in the third-place match.
Combined with a fourth-place finish by senior Haylee Osner in singles, Conway Springs was able to capture the third-place team trophy with 25 points, just three back from runner-up Marysville.
Other local state medalists in singles included Classical junior Greer Kice (sixth), Sterling sophomore Chelsie Brown (seventh) and Hesston junior Molly Martin (12th), while the doubles field featured Classical junior Adah Branam and sophomore Leonora Neumann (10th) and Smoky Valley senior Kayla Norborg and junior Lily Heline (12th) also earning medals.
McPherson notches second-place team finish at 4A state
McPherson finished runner-up in the team race at the Class 4A state tournament in Winfield, as its 28 points were only behind the 37 from Independence.
The Bullpups were led by sisters Riggs and Brodie Kuhn, who reached the finals in the doubles field and finished runner-up. All four entries for McPherson came away with state medals, as the other doubles team of freshmen Alexandria Rodriguez and Avery Unruh took 12th and senior Kyndall Sandbo (ninth) and sophomore Maryn Sandbo (10th) both placed in singles.
Other local state medalists in singles featured Trinity Academy senior Sophia Majors (fourth), Augusta junior Elise Richardson (fifth) and Pratt senior Bailey Jackson (seventh), while the medal-winners in doubles were Circle senior MaKya Thornton and junior Londyn Soto (fifth) and both Wellington teams of Lyric and Cruz Cornejo (sixth) and junior Kadynce Aufdengarten and sophomore Logan Robinson (eighth).
Northwest places two entries at 6A state
It’s not often a City League team is able to crack through the Kansas City competition at the Class 6A state tournament.
But Wichita Northwest came away with not only one state medal, but two from the tournament held in Junction City.
Northwest senior Alayna Alvarez, a regional champion, rallied to win her final match of the day to pick up an 11th-place medal in the singles field, while Northwest’s other regional champion, the doubles pairing of senior Cayanna Sparks and junior Kam Stubbs, notched a 12th-place finish.
They were the only local medalists in a tournament won by Shawnee Mission East.
