LADY BULLPUP TENNIS FINISH 2ND AT STATE

Kuhn Sisters Place 2nd in Doubles

By Staff

WINFIELD – At the Class 4A State tennis tournament Friday and Saturday, the McPherson girls tennis team closed out their 2023 season with a second-place team finish while the Kuhn sisters, Riggs and Brodie, finished second in the doubles division.

“This season just seemed to fly by,” pointed out Lady Bullpup head coach Tyler Brown. “The last month and a half have been absolutely amazing. All 19 of our girls this season bought into the program to make it a successful season. The six girls that represented the Lady Bullpups at Regionals and State did exactly that. These girls kept the tradition of Bullpup tennis clicking on all cylinders.”

The Kuhn sisters, senior Riggs and sophomore Brodie, finished the season 25-6 and were seeded second at the state tournament where they finished going 3-1, losing in the championship match to Lauren Sandstrom and Emily Sheetz of Topeka Hayden, the top seed.

Speaking of the Kuhn sisters, coach Brown said, “Riggs and Brodie Kuhn left their mark on the program amongst the very best to go through McPherson High School. Riggs finished as a three-times regional champion and three-times state medalist with this season being her highest finish yet. Brodie has been Rigg’s biggest complement. Brodie does not even know what it feels like to not be a regional champion as she has been the regional champion in her first two seasons. Her God given ability is off the charts.”

To show her athletic ability, Brodie Kuhn turned around and was scheduled to play at the Class 4A State Golf Tournament on Monday and Tuesday.

The Sandbo sisters, Kyndall and Maryn, finished ninth and tenth in the singles competition as Kyndall went 5-1 on the day, beating out her sister in the final match of the day. Maryn finished her day going 4-2.

“ Kyndall and Maryn Sandbo are two tough competitors that will fight to the end,” explained coach Brown. “Both these girls continue to grow in their game every single year. Kyndall will go down as a two-time state medalist while Maryn is a two-times state qualifier as just a sophomore. Maryn itched her name on the record board this season as well with her tenth-place finish and becoming a state medalist for the first time. Being just a sophomore, Maryn has a few more years to try to repeat the performance and knowing how she gets after it year in and year out, I know she will come back and keep improving.”

The other doubles tandem at state for the Lady Bullpups were freshmen Avery Unruh and Dragon Rodriguez. They ended up placing twelfth at the state tournament, going 3-3 for the day.

Smiling when discussing his freshmen, coach Brown continued, “Finishing out our top six were two freshmen that had a quiet demeanor to them but a fierce one at the same time. After Avery Unruh and Dragon Rodriguez grabbed the final spot at the Buhler Regional, they went into having a tremendous run at the state tournament. Avery and Dragon opened the tournament upsetting the #12 seed. After doing that they went on to earn their way to day two to guarantee they would be state medalist in their very first season.”

“Everyone of our girls contributed and showed why they belong on the big stage,” continued coach Brown. “These girls were so fun to coach and while seniors Riggs (Kuhn) and Kyndall (Sandbo) will be greatly missed, it is also amazing to think we still have an outstanding core coming back for several years to come. I want to say thank you to Ricardo Sanchez as well, to have someone like coach Sanchez on my staff is priceless because he does such an amazing job. It is tough to really talk about how many things he does to make our program one of the best. Coach Sanchez leaves his mark on our practices, tournaments, and all things that go on that not everyone may even see.”

Coach Brown concluded his lengthy post- season reflections by adding, “The tennis community is also a big reason for our success as an advocate for tennis like Janie Bremeyer brings a lot of coaches together to make McPherson tennis great. We also have past McPherson tennis players working with current players along with college coaches as well. We even have middle school coaches that are feeding players into the high school program ready to play in a state level tournament. If someone in McPherson wants to be great at tennis, they have a plethora of options to make that happen. We are truly blessed in our community when it comes to tennis.”

MCPHERSON LADY BULLPUP TENNIS at State Class 4A Tournament

TEAM SCORING > 1. Independence – 37; 2. LADY BULLPUPS – 28; 3. Bishop Miege – 24; 4. Chapman – 21; 5. Topeka Hayden – 20; 6. Wellington – 16; 7. Wichita Trinity – 13; 8. Chanute – 12; t-9. Augusta– 10; t-9. Circle/Towanda – 10; t-9. Pratt – 10; 12. Fort Scott – 8; 13. Parsons – 7; t-14. Clay Center – 3; t-14. Winfield – 3; 16. Ottawa – 2; 17. Buhler – 1; t-18. Baldwin/Iola/Scott Community/Ulysses – 0.

LADY BULLPUP INDIVIDUAL RESULTS >

Singles > Kyndall Sandbo (senior) – 9th; Maryn Sandbo (sophomore) – 10th.

Doubles > Riggs Kuhn (senior) / Brodie Kuhn (sophomore) – 2nd; Avery Unruh (freshman) / Dragon Rodriguez (freshman) – 12th.

(Any questions/comments regarding this posting may be sent in care of ‘The Staff’ at macks.people.places@gmail.com)