Tahlequah pair fall in MHS finals

By Kenton Brooks
Phoenix Sports Writer

March 30, 2008 01:08 am

— When it comes to tennis, Tahlequah’s Lauren Mitchell and Laura Fillmore have opposite styles.
“She’s more consistent and I attack the ball,” Mitchell said.
But the Lady Tigers’ duo complement each other on the court as they did Saturday in reaching the No. 1 doubles finals in the girls division of the 17th annual Muskogee High School Invitational before losing 6-0, 6-2 to Enid’s Morgan Humphrey and Mackenzie Zaloudek.
The freshmen pair had a 14-match winning streak snapped, but finished in second place at the one-day tourney.
Fillmore, the younger sister of Tahlequah’s No. 1 boys singles player and this year’s tournament champion Travis Fillmore, said she uses her consistency to set up Mitchell for points during a match.
“She can put away the ball,” Laura Fillmore said.
Tahlequah coach Tyler Ashley said he put the two together as “an experiment.”
“They lost their first two matches,” he said. “It’s hard for an opposing team to get into rhythm when they play Lauren and Laura because one hits it so hard and the other uses placement for her shots. They play older than freshmen. Both of them have done well.”
Meanwhile, the chilly day did not go as well for Muskogee.
Dani Gatzman, a last-minute replacement for the ailing Hannah Burkett, lost 6-0, 6-0 to Sand Springs’ Shannon Hamilton at No. 1 singles, while Lauren Ragsdale beat Sapulpa’s Sarah Shanahan 6-2, 6-1 and then lost 6-0, 6-0 to Enid’s Emily Fike at No. 2 singles.
Ragsdale finished eighth and Tahlequah’s Danielle Whitehorn was the consolation champion at No. 2 singles.
In doubles, the MHS No. 1 duo of Bailey Ewing-Jordan Weibe lost 6-1, 6-3 to Putnam City and then 8-2 to Claremore.
“It was a hard tournament. There are good girls out here,” Weibe said. “It was like everybody was hitting back our shots.”
The No. 2 team of Tori Gilmartin-Catherine Biep lost 3-6, 6-2 (10-6) to Putnam City in the opening round.
The tournament was delayed for 4 1/2 hours because of early morning rain and the drying of the courts. Because of the weather, all singles and doubles matches in the consolation bracket were played in the eight-game pro-set format, or the first player or duo to reach eight points and win by two takes the match.

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