Beech Tree News Network

Region Tournament kicked off this week at Moreland Park in Owensboro with first and second round action on Monday, May 5th.  Butler County took eleven players for a fun afternoon of tennis.  At the end of a long, nail-biting, exciting night the Bears came away with seven players; Brennan Grubb- boy’s singles, Matthew Embry and Dakota Merrick – boy’s doubles, Emily Wallace and Rachel Johnson – girl’s doubles, and Chanda Hampton and Katona Dockery – girl’s doubles; surviving the first two rounds of action and advancing to Tuesday night’s third and fourth rounds of play. Monday night’s action was highlighted by Embry/Merrick’s impressive second round win over Apollo’s double team 6-3, 6-2.  Team Wallace/Johnson faced a Muhlenberg County duo in the second round that had just defeated them in a tough match one week ago; however Wallace and Johnson brought their “A” game on Monday night and got right down to business dominating their opponents 6-2, 6-1.  Brennan Grubb also faced a stealthy opponent in the second round that he had faced earlier in the season and had to take to tie-breaker to win in a three hour match.  Monday night’s match proved to have the same tone as their earlier match with Grubb finding himself losing the first set 2-6 before battling back and winning the second set 6-1 and then the super tie-break 10-3 to Dylan Mather whose father plays tennis professionally.   The nightcap was Hampton and Dockery facing an Apollo team who were a force to be reckoned with.  Hampton and Dockery got off to a slow start and found themselves down a set as well losing 2-6.  With much determination and grit, the two girls fought back in front of a large cheering crowd to win the next set 6-3 and then the super tie-break 10-8.

                Tuesday night’s third and fourth round action was a little tougher on the Bears, knocking out all our competitors except the team of Hampton/Dockery.  They breezed through their third round match up against an Owensboro Catholic team 6-0, 6-2 to put them in the semi-finals.  That round of play slated them with the team of Hume/Hume from Daviess County.  Hampton/Dockery started off strong with a 6-1 win in the first set, but came up short the second set 5-7 forcing them into a super tie-break once more.  The pair played incredibly well together and pulled off the win 10-4.

                Wednesday night Hampton and Dockery went back to Owensboro once more for the championship match.  This time they faced the number one seed in the tournament Hayden/Hayden from Owensboro Catholic.  The girls fought hard but came up a little short, finishing as the tournament’s runners up team.  This finish qualifies that girls for state which will take place next week in Lexington, Kentucky.