Kennett-Holcomb tennis secures second at Districts, Bean and McAtee advance to State

Handley McAtee, left, and her doubles partner Claire Bean serve against North County in the Class 1 District 1 Championship match.

Photo by Kaelin Triggs, Delta Dunklin Democrat.

KENNETT, Mo. - The Kennett-Holcomb tennis team battled through the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) Class 1 District 1 tournament to face off against the undefeated North County Raiders in the District Championship match.

The Kennett team secured second place after losing 5-3 to North County in the championship match.

Kennett-Holcomb came in as the reigning champs from 2023, winning three consecutive district titles dating back to 2021. This included two back-to-back state titles in 2021 and 2022. They were the favorites, ranked first in the district with a 17-0 record.

They had a bye in the first round before facing Sikeston in the second round. They were able to sweep the Bulldogs 5-0 and continue on to the Semi-finals where they beat Arcadia Valley 5-1.

North County also entered this match as reigning champs after winning four consecutive Class 1 District 2 titles from 2020 to 2023. They were moved from their District 2 assignment to Class 1 District 1 this season where they were able to keep the streak alive with a win over Kennett.

The last time these two teams met was in the opening round of the 2023 State Tournament. Kennett beat the Raiders 5-1 to advance, ending North County’s postseason run.

This year, with a change in district assignments, the two teams met a week earlier. This time North County flipped the script.

Senior Handley McAtee was still proud of how her team battled this season and earned a runner-up performance at districts.

“There’s a lot of hard work that goes into this,” McAtee said. “Definitely wish we could have gotten first, but at the end of the day it was in our favor. I still think our team has worked really hard , it just wasn’t our day.”

Despite the team’s loss, McAtee and her doubles partner junior Claire Bean won against North County’s doubles team to pick up their 100th doubles win of their high school career. This feat holsted them over the current State record by 13 matches. Camryn Parnell and Logan Morrissey held this record from 2014 with 87 wins.

Bean and McAtee also already punched their ticket to State after winning the Class 1 District 1 Doubles Tournament. The pairing are now riding on a three year long winning streak dating back to 2022.

According to Bean, their success over the past three years have been hidden in their friendship on and off the court.

“It’s a great accomplishment,” Bean said. “It helps to have a wonderful partner like Handley. She’s my best friend on and off the court and that really helps us have good teamwork together.”

Bean and McAtee beat North County’s Allison Scott and Kinley Tracy 6-1, 6-0 in the doubles tournament to advance to the State tournament for the third year in a row.

McAtee, who crunched the numbers and figured out this would be her 100th win the night before, said it has been a testament of their hard work to make it this far.

“It’s obviously very exciting to get our 100th win,” McAtee said. “I think we just have to stick to playing how we always play and that helped us get here.”

Their mission continues, as Bean and McAtee will travel to seek their third State Doubles title in three years. They currently have the second most State Doubles titles in Missouri history.

“It feels good knowing this isn’t my last tennis match,” McAtee said. “We are definitely going to prepare ourselves for next week and hopefully be ready to go on Thursday and compete in my last State tournament.”

Bean said their key to earning their third title will stay the same as it has all season, being consistent.

“We’ve been playing really good recently,” Bean said. “I think if we keep doing what we’ve been doing all three years of playing together, this last State run will be the best.”