by Mikalyn Brickley
In the 2021 Southwest A Divisional Tennis tournament played in Hamilton this week, five schools competed to earn a place in the state tournament to be held next weekend in Billings. In the boys’ singles bracket, the championship was won by Hamilton’s Andy Purcell, who defeated Sam Jones from Dillon in the first set (6-1), and then went 7-6 in the second set, sending the boys into a tie breaker. Purcell came out on top with a score of 7-4. The boys’ doubles bracket was won by Dillon’s Bramlet and Mosher, who competed with Marshall Fehr and Jason Bay from Corvallis, taking home the championship with set scores of 6-0 and 6-4. For the boys, Dillon ended with the highest overall team score of 47, with Corvallis following at 34, then Hamilton with 29, Stevensville with 3, and finally Butte Central with 1.
In the girls’ bracket, the singles championship was won by Hamilton’s Eliana Foss, who claimed victory over Madeline DeLeo from Corvallis, with scores of 6-1 and 6-3. In the doubles, it was friend vs. friend as Molly Powell and Bailey Jessop battled against Hailey Anderson and Madison Henry in the championship, both teams being from Corvallis. The Powell/Jessop duo came out on top, winning both sets with a score of 6-1. In the end, Corvallis girls took home the highest team score of 62, with Hamilton totaling a score of 34, Stevensville with 30, Dillon with 17, and Butte Central with 9.
Below are the qualifiers for the 2021 State Tournament
Boys Singles: Andy Purcell (Hamilton), Sam Jones (Dillon), Marcus Sandall (Dillon), Colin Hanley (Hamilton)
Boys Doubles: John Bramlet and Jett Mosher (Dillon), Marshall Fehr and Jason Bay (Corvallis), Nik Talia and Luke Sangster (Corvallis), Liam O’Connell and Jackson Heath (Hamilton)
Girls Singles: Eliana Foss (Hamilton), Madeline DeLeo (Corvallis), Maddie Weber (Stevensville), Tiani Ertel (Corvallis)
Girls Doubles: Molly Powell and Bailey Jessop (Corvallis), Hailey Anderson and Madison Henry (Corvallis), Mackaela Hawthorne and Crystal St. Germain (Stevensville), Rachel Fluckiger and Eden Kindberg (Dillon).