JUMP TIME AGAIN: Kennett wins 10th straight district title in girls tennis

Photo by Dustin Ward, staff
The Kennett varsity girls tennis team leaps on Wheatley Courts after beating Notre Dame 5-0 in the Class 1, District 1 final Wednesday.

Note: A photo gallery of the Kennett girls tennis team in action against Notre Dame is available here: GIRLS TENNIS CHAMPS

Photo by Dustin Ward, staff
The Kennett varsity girls tennis team with its district championship plaque after beating Notre Dame 5-0 in the Class 1, District 1 final Wednesday. Kennett plays Windsor in a Class 1 sectional Oct. 8.

KENNETT, Mo. - Jumping for joy has become a fall tradition for the Kennett Indians girls tennis program.

A decade long of playoff success continued for Kennett Wednesday afternoon at Wheatley Courts.

Top-seeded Kennett won the first five matches completed to secure a 5-0 victory against second-seeded Notre Dame in the Class 1, District 1 championship.

A few minutes later Kennett players leaped in the air on the courts after they received the district championship plaque for a tenth straight season.

“Winning this for a tenth straight season means a lot to me,” Kennett senior Hadley Hilburn said. “My aunt is the coach and I’ve followed the tennis program all 10 years of this. This just really brings great recognition to our school.”

The closest match of the evening was the No. 3 doubles match featuring Kennett’s Sydni McAtee and Darcy Campbell squaring off against Notre Dame’s Marlen Hoedebeck and Hattie Lou Burdin. McAtee and Campbell eventually prevailed in the 65-minute showdown by tallying the final four points of a tiebreaker to secure a 9-8 (7-3) victory

“That was big for us to take the tiebreaker because it gave us all three doubles wins,” Kennett coach Janet Hilburn said.

Kennett’s Anna Beth Williams and Kayton Harris beat Notre Dame’s Taylor Kohlfeld and Julia Kohlfeld 8-2 in 32 minutes in the No. 2 doubles match.

“They came out and took charge,” coach Hilburn said. “They’ve had close matches with the Kohlfelds all year. They made a statement today, and I was pleased with their play.”

Hilburn and Heidi Shetley followed with an 8-4 win against Notre Dame’s Grace Powderly and Sylvia Kolda in the No.1 singles match

“We talked strategy because they upset us at Notre Dame,” coach Hilburn said of the No. 1 doubles match, which lasted 49 minutes. “We worked on some things that hurt us at Notre Dame and we were able to pull out a victory today.”

Williams beat Taylor Kohlfeld 6-4, 6-3 in the No. 3 singles match.

Shetley followed with a 6-4, 6-2 win against Sylvia Kolda in the No. 2 singles match and Hilburn beat Powderly in the No. 1 singles match at about the same time.

“I thought we played really well,” Williams said. “Everyone was ready. We came out here looking for a win and we got it today.”

Kennett improves to 10-1 with its tenth straight district championship win.

“It means we have some great coaching,” Williams said. “I hope we continue to have Janet these next few years. I’ll be back next year and hopefully we can get another one.”

Kennett plays Windsor in a Class 1 sectional Oct. 8. Top-seeded Windsor (7-3) edged second-seeded Fredericktown 5-3 in its district final Wednesday. The site and time of the Kennett-Windsor match was not available at press deadline.

“I tell everyone, ‘I love winning and yes the streak is pretty remarkable,’” coach Hilburn said. “I like the girls to see results after they work so hard in the heat in the summer months.

“But when this all started many years ago we took our losses and had to work, work, work, to get to this point,” she added. “We’ve built this program up and I hope the success continues.”

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