Bison girls finish in Class B top three

LINCOLN, Neb. — McCook fell five points short of repeating as Class B girls' tennis champs after Brownell Talbot-Concordia and Omaha Duchesne surged past the Bison on Friday.

The Bison tallied 32 points to led through Thursday, but only added 8.5 points even though three seniors reached state championship matches.

No. 7-seed Haley Pottoff continued her terrific title quest when she won a 6-3, 6-2 semifinal over No. 3 Aruna Bashir from BT-C Friday morning. Potthoff had knocked out No. 2 Lesley Lam from Duchesne during Thursday's quarterfinals.

However, undefeated No. 1 Annie Trettel of Kearney Catholic denied Potthoff a state championship with her 6-2, 7-5 finals victory. Treble completed a 25-0 season.

McCook No. 1 doubles Cassiddy Beeby and Syd Thompson also reached the final roun. They scored a 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) semifinal win against Grand Island Central Catholic's Katie Maser-Avery Kalvoda.

Facing No. 3 Duchesne for the title, No. 1Beeby-Thompson (39-4 record) dominate their first set 6-2.

Yet sophomores Kirsten Capelle and Jane Krueger took the next two sets 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 for a crucial Duchesne victory.

Perhaps the most stunning development arrived when Duchesne freshman Meena Satpathy won a consolation 6-2, 6-2 final over McCook junior Kassidy Michaelis at No. 1 singles.

Michaelis missed her third straight title match when she dropped a 6-4, 6-3 semifinal to Lincoln Christian's Chloe Dvorak. Her first loss in 46 matches this season was followed by that second defeat in the consolation final.

McCook also didn't add any No. 2 doubles points after juniors Riley Hansen and Syd Stewart dropped a tough three-set quarterfinal on Thursday.

Consequently, Brownell Talbot-Concordia surged to the state team title with 45.5 points while Duchesne scored 43 points for second.

McCook (40.5) took third ahead of Grand Island CC (33), Holdrege (28), Kearney Catholic (24.5) and Lincoln Christian (24) as 30 schools were represented at Class B state.

Watch for final comments, photos and details in Monday's Gazette.