Ark Valley News - Sharp to make fourth appearance at state

Sharp to make fourth appearance at state
By Randy Fisher
Last Updated: October 11, 2018

To say Oct. 5 was a good day for Valley Center High School tennis would be an understatement. That's the day four Hornets qualified for the Class 5A state tournament.

Jessica Sharp led the way with a singles championship in the regional tournament held at Valley Center. Joining her at the state meet, Oct 12 and 13 in Emporia, will be junior Mallory Feather, who was fourth in singles, and seniors Kara Harden and Alexa Bedecarratz, fifth in doubles.

"Going into regionals I thought, if they played their best, we had a shot at getting all six in," coach Dean Schulz said. "Alex (Barbour) and Kassie (Kinniburgh) didn't play bad, they just came up a little bit short. It was just one of those things."

As a team, Valley Center had 14 points to finish second, two points behind McPherson. That was Valley's best team finish in a girls regional tournament since 2010, when it also finished second.

Placing third was Andover with 12 points. Rounding out the team scoring were Andover Central with 9, Newton with 6 and Great Bend with 1. Hays and Wichita Heights failed to score.

With her regional championship, Sharp became the third four-time girls qualifier at Valley Center.

"It was, honestly, a relief because it was one of my goals when I entered high school — to go to state four times," she said. "I thought it could never happen, but I really worked hard. It was satisfying to know all my hard work paid off, and I could go to state and get to prove myself in that way."

Sharp cruised through the field, dropping only five games, three in one set. She defeated Madison Hill (WH) 6-0, 6-0; Madelynn Hamm (NT) 6-0, 6-1; Emma Sinclair (AND) 6-3, 6-0 and Sarah Sinclair (AND) 6-1, 6-0.

"I was just really mentally focused the entire time," Sharp said. "I was just on my A-game and didn't have a lot of unforced errors."

Qualifying this year was a bit different for Sharp. Almost sadder, in a way. Her three previous trips were in doubles with Rachel Binau, who graduated in May.

"Having a partner there you get to celebrate with them," Sharp said. "When you're by yourself, it's exciting because it's all on you. You don't have that bond you get to share with your partner."

But Binau wasn't about to let down her old partner.

"She was actually there, so we celebrated together," Sharp said with a grin and a laugh. "It kind of worked out. It was really nice. I enjoyed it."

Feather had a physically and mentally exhausting day in earning her first trip to state.

"Mallory played a 2 1/2 hour match against McPherson to qualify, then was exhausted for her match with Sarah Sinclair and decided not to play the last match for health reasons," Schulz said.

Feather defeated Hallie Watkins (NT) 6-1, 6-1 and Rachel Carlson (McP) 6-7 (4), 6-3, 10-7; lost to Sarah Sinclair (AND) 3-6, 5-7 and defaulted to Emma Sinclair in the third-place match.

"After the match to qualify, I was super excited," Feather said. "I had the chills because I'd never done it before. My parents were applauding for me. It was just really exciting overall."

This was a learning year for Feather, who played doubles her first two years. After her partner graduated, she decided to try singles.

"It was a bit of an adjustment at the beginning of the year," she said. "Toward the middle and end of the season, I got into the groove of things and had more fun."

Mostly she plans to work on her mental game for state.

"I'm just gong to try to stay out of my own head and have confidence in myself," she said.

Schulz said Harden and Bedecarratz played well all day. They opened by defeating Benjamin/Tan (AND) 6-2, 7-5; losing to Bruce/Allen (McP) 1-6, 2-6; then defeating Folkerts/Moyers (GB) 7-5, 6-3 and Tallman/Geoffroy (AndC) 6-1, 6-3 for fifth.

For Harden, qualifying for state wasn't on her radar. Ever. So when did she being to think they could make it to state?

"Honestly, not until we won the second match at regionals," she said with a smile." I was like, this is really happening. I stood there and everyone was throwing their arms around me, giving me hugs. I just kind of stood there and thought, did this really just happen?"

For Bedecarratz, a foreign exchange student from Chile, this year was different. Back home, she played singles for fun with her family. She had never played competitively before arriving in Valley Center.

"I was really nervous at the first of the season," Bedecarratz said. "It wasn't easy but after awhile, if I did something wrong or something right, Kara was always there to teach me."

Now she's learning tennis and how to enjoy it.

"I'm not quite comfortable yet. I'm still really nervous when I'm playing," she said. "Now I learn how to have fun when I'm doing it. At first I was so nervous I wasn't having fun."

Barbour and Kinniburgh lost their first match to Crumrine/Weers (AND) 5-7, 6-7 (7-9) to end their season.

"Alex and Kassie played well also, just came up a little short against a team they lost to at league on Monday (Oct. 1)," Schulz said. "It was one of the toughest 7-10 seed match-ups I've seen in some time."

Opening ceremonies at state are scheduled for 10 a.m. Oct. 12, with play to begin around 10:30, weather permitting.

For her final go-round at state, Sharp seems to have a relaxed attitude.

"Just enjoy every second, win or lose, and have fun with my friends," she said with that ever-present smile.