Henryetta Lady Knights came away with two fifth place finishes in the state 4A tennis tournament Saturday. By the end of play Saturday, the girls had amased enough points to come up with fourth place overall.
"We had some tough draws," said coach Dustin Mosco. Two of the teams that beat us went on to win state."
Both of those went to the number 1 and 2 doubles teams, Both won their opening matches then lost out in their second at the Oklahoma City Tennis Center on Friday.
Summer Bruant and Shelby Gaddy downed Wagoner in two sets, 7-6 and 6-3. That put them against Anadarko with the HHS girls losing the first set 6-4 then posting a 3-6 win. The tiebreaker went the wrong way with Anadarko winning 6-3.
Gaddy and Bryant then swept past Regent Prep, 6-4 and 6-4 on the loser's side of the bracket and won over Grove 7-5 and 6-4 to put them in the fifth place slot. They took an easy 6-1 opening win over Perry's Bendure and Pierce then battled for a 7-6 win to end the tournament.
In the number 2 doubles, Kelsey Britt and Natalie Smith owned the courts for a 6-0 and 6-2 win over Regent Prep in their first appearance but lost 6-3 and 6-4 to Clinton.
They took the next two matches, winning 6-1 and 6-0 against Nowata and 6-2 and 6-1 over Grove.
That set them against Christian Heritage for the fifth place honors with the Lady Knights dominating 6-2 and 6-2 by day's end.
The singles side of the tournament saw rachel Montgomery lose her fifth place try after fighting through an exhausting earlier match.
Montgomery started out with a lengthy win, 6-2, 4-6 and 6-1 over Perry's Amanda Peterson. In her second series, she lost 6-0 and 6-0 to Crossings Christian throwing her into the consolation brackets.
A 6-2, 6-2 victory over Mount St. Mary pitted her against Erica Kelley from Riverfield. Montgomery won the opening set 6-4 then lost 3-6. The tiebreaker was just as close with Henryetta coming out on top, 7-5.
In the fifth place playoff, Montgomery lost a close 7-5 opener then lost 6-2.
Lady Knight Fallon Rodgers was seventh seeded going into the tournament. she lost 6-4, 6-4 to Harrah then won her match with Elk City before losing 6-1 and 6-0 to Crossings Christian.
"We knew it was going to be a tough tournament. By the time you get there, you are facing the best teams."
He said the tournament was great experience for several of the younger members on the team.