Bison move three into state tennis semifinals

Thursday, May 16, 2019 ~ Updated 6:23 PM
Junior Kori Uerling (left) and senior Riley Hansen of McCook have advanced into Friday's Class B No. 1 doubles state semifinals. They scored three wins at Lincoln's Woods Tennis Center on Thursday.
R.B. Headley/McCook Gazette

LINCOLN, Neb. — Senior Kassidy Michaelis swept three No. 1 singles foes 6-0, 6-0 while McCook's No. 1 doubles team of Riley Hansen and Kori Uerling will join her in the Class B state semifinals following Thursday state victories.

However, the Bison did drop a pair of quarterfinal matches with powerful Omaha Duchesne. McCook scored 32 team points but trail both Duchesne (36) and Grand Island Central Catholic (34) going into Friday's final rounds.

Michaelis won an amazing 36 straight games on Thursday with sweeps of Ogallala's Maddie Ketchum, Hershey's Keyana Hastings and quarterfinal foe/No. 6-seed Zoee Smith from Gering.

The No. 3-seed Michaelis (41-0 record) now meets No. 2 Brianna Liu of Brownell-Talbot/Concordia in Friday's semifinals. Liu (20-5) lost only one game during her pair of Thursday victories.

Defending Class B champ Brownell-Talbot currently holds fourth place with 26 points just behind the Bison.

Hansen/Uerling conquered the first three state tourney matches of their Bison careers. Following an early sweep of South Sioux City, the No. 3-seed downed Scottsbluff's Brooke DeSha/Selby Bewley and No. 6 Lilith Fair/Madison Mendoza of Ogallala by identical 6-4, 6-3 scores.

At 38-3, Hansen/Uerling will also take on a No. 2 seed in GICC's Katie Maser/Avery Kalvoda (24-1) for their semifinal match. It will be the chance for the Bison to avenge three of their earlier defeats.

The GICC duo lost only three games through two wins on Thursday.

No. 2 was not so fortunate for McCook although all three Bison reached state quarterfinals.

Senior Syd Stewart (33-6 record) Took care of South Sioux City's Elizabeth Gerken 6-2, 6-0 following her first-round 6-1, 6-1 win over Waverley's Analiese Wiederbeck.

However, Stewart played a terrific match with Duchesne's Abigail Brewster where No. 5-seed Brewer prevailed 7-5, 2-6, 10-7. The third sets are a new scoring system where first player to 10 points triumphs.

No. 4-seed Stewart will play a consolation semifinal Friday against No. 1 Courtney Toner of GICC, who was upset by No. 8 Aruna Bashir of BT-C/Concordia on Thursday. Toner brings a 22-3 record into the match with Stewart.

McCook's No. 2 doubles of senior Delaney Jumps and Megan Hodgson earned a shot at No. 1 after then won a 7-5, 7-6 (7-4) battle over Waverley's Crystal Huang/Brooklyn Pasevic.

The Bison advanced into quarterfinals where No. 1 Jane Kruger and Kirsten Capelle of Duchesne defeated them 6-3, 6-1.

No. 8-seed Jumps/Hodgson (30-7 record) now play a Friday consolation semi against Norris Titans Anastasia Kruger/Madeline Starr (28-5), who were seeded fifth entering state tourney play.

Watch for updates on mccookgazette.com and more details in upcoming editions of the Gazette.

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