Hesston, KS — With temperatures near 95 degrees during the first matches on Thursday, the Bullpup tennis team battled the heat, along with opening season jitters, to come away with a first place medal in Hesston, participating in an 8-team tournament. Without any seniors on the team, and a new core coming to the court in 2022, many consider this a “rebuilding year”, but Head Coach Tyler Brown, never considers that as an option, saying, “I like to think we don’t rebuild, we reload.” Junior, Kyndall Sandbo opened up with a very difficult singles match playing Olivia Fredrick from Buhler, who was a state medalist. Brown would say after her tough loss, “It’s easy to be frustrated and let the rest of your day affect your outcome, but Kyndall let none of that affect her.” Sandbo, like many of her teammates, played some of her best tennis in her last match of the day. Maryn Sandbo, the younger sister of Kyndall, would win her first career varsity match, as a freshman, and in the championship, she was attacking the ball and moving her opponent around the court, playing some unbelievable tennis to take first at #2 Singles. Riggs and Brodie Kuhn, played #1 Doubles, also going 3-0, beating a very good Buhler team 8-1 in the Championship. Brown added, “Even though they are sisters, they really haven’t had a lot of matches in actual tournament play. I can’t wait to see their growth by the end of the season.” Paige Stucky and Lauren Rogers looked good in their first two matches playing #2 Doubles, but ran into a Smoky Valley team that Brown would consider “Locked In,” as Stucky and Rogers would end up falling 8-2 in the finals. Brown was extremely proud of his team after the tournament, saying “Even though we have a team with zero seniors, this team can still be very good, and the fact we were able to win at Hesston says a lot about these girls.” Looking ahead at the schedule, the Bullpup varsity will host an Invitational on Thursday at McPherson High that includes; Derby, Goddard Eisenhower, Great Bend, Newton, Salina Sacred Heart, and Valley Center. Matches are set to begin at 3 p.m. The JV will host their invitational Tuesday, at 3 p.m. Below are the team results, along with individual Bullpup results: Team Results: McPherson 25 Buhler 21 Smoky Valley 18 Wichita Collegiate 15 Hesston 14 Trinity Academy 12 Maize South 10 Abilene 0 Individual Results: #1 Singles: Kyndall Sandbo 2-1 5th #2 Singles: Maryn Sandbo 3-0 1st #1 Doubles: Riggs Kuhn / Brodie Kuhn 3-0 1st #2 Doubles: Paige Stucky / Lauren Rogers 2-1 2nd Source: https://www.adastraradio.com/adastra-sports/mhs-ladies-take-first-in-varsity-tennis-opener