Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009

Stivers punches ticket to state for third time

Only one Olathe tennis player qualified for the Kansas 6A state tournament, which starts Friday at Maize South High School in the Wichita suburbs.

It should come as no surprise that that player is Olathe East senior singles star Kristen Stivers, who has reached state for the third consecutive year.

Stivers cruised through regional play, taking down Olathe Northwest's Mandy Perkins 6-1, 6-0 and then blanking her next three opponents en route to the first regional championship of her career.

Stivers knocked off Lawrence's Morgan Manger in the quarterfinals, SM Northwest's Claire Gordon in the semifinals and dispatched another Cougar, Mary Slattery, in the title match.

She heads to state with a 25-3 record this season.

| Tod Palmer, todpalmer@theolathenews.com

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