The Boone girls’ tennis team earned a 5-2 victory over Knoxville before falling, 5-3, in a hard-fought battle against powerhouse Waterloo Columbus in team regionals Tuesday, May 20, in Waterloo, to end the season. 

“What a magical season,” said head coach Shawn Latimer. “It’s always an abrupt end, but what a fun ride it was this year.” 

Boone opened the day with a strong showing against Knoxville, winning four of six singles matches and adding one doubles victory. 

Kaylee Kuehl led the charge at No. 1 singles, rallying for a 5-7, 6-4, 1-0 (6) win. 

Livi Schneider, Shannon Jenkins, and Claire Hardinger all secured straight-set victories at No. 2, 3, and 6 singles, respectively. 

“Kaylee knocked off the No. 8 ranked player in the state and gave her the only loss of her season,” Latimer said. 

In doubles, Jenkins and Hardinger teamed up for a 6-4, 6-3 win at the No. 2 spot to seal the team win. 

“It was a solid victory over a 9-1 Knoxville team that moved our season record to 13-2,” Latimer said.” 

Later in the day, Boone faced a tough test against Waterloo Columbus, a traditionally strong program. 

Boone started with three wins in singles. 

Schneider and Jenkins again delivered, with Schneider winning a three-set battle 6-1, 4-6, 1-0 (5), and Jenkins taking her match in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2. 

Hardinger added a win at No. 6 singles, 6-2, 6-2. 

Boone entered doubles play tied, 3-3; however, Waterloo Columbus proved too strong in doubles and won two doubles matches to secure the team victory. 

“We had Columbus on upset alert after singles, but in the end, we couldn’t muster the one more matches we needed to defeat them,” Latimer said. 

Complete results were previously posted to kwbg.com

Boone ends the season with a 13-3 record as the team shut out 8 opponents. 

All varsity individuals and doubles teams ended the year with winning records. 

Schneider ended the year undefeated at No. 2 singles at 16-0 while Jenkins and Hardinger finished at 15-1. 

The rest all found the double-digits for victories with Kuehl going 10-6, Lutz going 12-6 and Thompson going 13-4. 

For doubles, No. 1 Kuehl and Schneider ended 10-6, No. 2 Jenkins and Hardinger finished 13-3 and No. 3 Lutz and Olivia Conlin went 10-5. 

In addition, No. 4 Michaella Anderson and Rozzie Stevenson finished 7-3, while No. 5 Thompson and Rachel Ungs went 7-1 and No. 5 Thompson and Baylee Bunning ended 1-1. 

“With 9 of the top 10 coming back next year, hopefully, we can get to this point again!” Latimer said. 

Jill Lutz reporting