Kennett-Holcomb secures back-to-back SEMO Tennis Titles

Kennett-Holcomb tennis pose with their trophy after winning their second consecutive SEMO Conference Tournament title.

Photo by Kaelin Triggs, Delta Dunklin Democrat

KENNETT, Mo. - The SEMO Conference tennis tournament was hosted by the reigning champions at Kennett High School.

After 10 hours of tennis, Kennett-Holcomb became back-to-back SEMO Conference Champions. They were able to beat Jackson, who took second, by two points to take home the team title and keep possession of the SEMO Conference trophy.

The deciding factor came after a win by Kennett sophomore Olivia Rebstock who beat Jackson’s Ellie Osborne in the second round of the singles tournament.

Claire Bean returns a hit in the championship match of the SEMO Conference Doubles Tournament against Jackson’s Bailey Rees and Ava Nipper.

Photo by Kaelin Triggs, Delta Dunklin Democrat

It was a close match between the two which had to be settled in a tiebreaker. Osborne took the first set with a commanding 6-1 victory over Rebstock. However, Rebstock came back and won the second set 6-2 which led to a third set to break the tie.

Rebstock won the tiebreaker 10-5, which took her to the semi-final round of the singles tournament.

“I was really proud of that victory to lock the team win in for us,” Rebstock said. “That was the key match for whether Jackson would win or if we would win, Janet [Hilburn] really had to get on me. It was pretty good.”

Rebstock went on to take second overall in the singles tournament after winning in two sets against Molly Maurer from Poplar Bluff in the semi-finals.

Rebstock took her only loss to Kaitlyn Booker in the championship match to secure her silver medal.

“Last year as a freshman, my first year of tennis, I only made it past the first round,” Rebstock said. “I told myself I would get a medal next year. Here we are, the next year, and I got second so that’s pretty good. I’m okay with that because next year, I’m going to get first.”

She said she was motivated by her coach, Janet Hilburn, along with her mom yelling at her and telling her to stay focused.

According to Hilburn, she knew Jackson and Poplar Bluff were the two teams to beat in this tournament. As followed, Jackson took second and Poplar Bluff came in third.

Along with Osborne, Jackson was led by their doubles team of seniors Bailey Rees and Ava Nipper. They walked away with a second place performance in the doubles tournament. Their only loss of the entire day came in the championship round to Kennett’s doubles team of Claire Bean and Handley McAtee.

Bean and McAtee flew through the entire tournament without dropping a single set in any of their matches, giving Kennett most of their points. They were proud of their performance and the team’s efforts to pull out another conference title.

“I thought we had some really great matches today,” McAtee said. “Hopefully that builds us up for the matches to come in the postseason.”

While Kennett took first in the doubles tournament and Jackson won second, both of Notre Dame’s doubles teams made it to the final rounds. The duos of Eloisa West and Harper Raffety along with Caroline Galati and Mary Cox battled each other for third and fourth to secure points for Notre Dame.

In singles, Kennett and Poplar Bluff were the remaining competitors at the end of the day. Booker from Poplar Bluff took first, after placing second last year. While Rebstock from Kennett took second, her teammate Emory Kamper took third over Poplar Bluff’s Maurer who secured fourth place.

Next, the teams enter their post-season stage of competition.

Kennett will play in the Class 1 District 1 individual tournament starting on Thursday, Oct. 10. They lead their district assignment with an undefeated season of 15 wins. Dexter is in sixth with a 5-8 record.

According to Bean and McAtee, the matches at Conference will better prepare them for Districts.

“I think we worked hard for this,” Bean said. “It’s always fun to win and we are excited for districts next week. We are going to regroup and work on something we need to work on. We just need to continue doing what we are doing at practice to make sure we are prepared for districts.”

Along with the Kennett Indians, the Jackson Indians sit at the top of their Class 3 District 1 assignment with 14 wins and only three losses this season. Poplar Bluff and Notre Dame have the same Class 2 District 1 assignment. Notre Dame sits in first with 9 wins and 8 losses while Poplar Bluff is ranked third at 5 wins and 4 losses.