It was just a year ago during her sophomore year of high school tennis that Sage Riggs began to think of perhaps being the top player in the Western Athletic Conference.
But that would have to wait for a year because she was playing No. 2 singles for the Lady Buffaloes, waiting in the wings for teammate Carson Linenberger to graduate in 2020.
That set the stage for Riggs, now a junior, to move into the No. 1 slot for new head coach Logan Bevis as the 2020 season got under way. During the regular season, on multiple occasions, Riggs met up with other No. 1 players from the remaining four WAC schools and never dropped a match.
Then, when it came time for the WAC Championship in Liberal near the end of the regular season, Riggs saved her best for the four-match round-robin as she first defeated 2019 WAC Player of the Year Remi Ingram of Great Bend, 8-5, in the opening match of the tournament.
She would follow that with an 8-1 win over Priscilla Vasquez of Liberal, an 8-2 triumph over Maggie Robben of Hays and a title-clinching 8-1 decision over Faith Heath of Dodge City.
Her 4-0 mark resulted in Riggs being named the 2020 WAC Player of the Year, and helped catapult the Lady Buffaloes to the team title with 13 points, finishing ahead of Dodge City’s 10 points. Great Bend was third with 8, Liberal fourth with 6 and Hays fifth with 3.
Riggs credits her offseason work in getting stronger and working to improve all areas of her singles game for the success this year.
“I’m definitely hitting with more topspin and working to move the ball around with drop shots and changing the pace,” said Riggs. “Winning WAC was one of my goals and I’m thrilled to named Player of the Year. It’s a nice reward for all the hard work.”
Riggs said she had just tried to be able to play different shots depending on the strengths of her opponents this season.
“Depending on who you’re playing, if you’re playing topspin it keeps you in the point,” Riggs said. “If they’re standing way back, you can play drop shots and bring them up to the net, which then sets up the lob shot or a passing shot.”
Riggs said facing Ingram in the opening match of this year’s WAC created early pressure to win.
“I usually start out a little slow, but I knew I couldn’t do that against Remi,” Riggs said. “She did win the WAC last year so I knew that match was important if I wanted to win this year. It was the first time I had played her since Dodge City in 2019 and that was a close match then.”
For Riggs, winning WAC POY in her junior season sets up the possibility of going for a repeat in 2021.
“For us, WAC is a pretty big deal,” Riggs said. “To win WAC with a victory over the Dodge girl (Heath) in the final match was a great feeling. She’s improved a lot and our scores have gotten closer. It seems like all the players have improved a lot over last year.”
Riggs, who finished with a 30-6 record, said there was a big difference between No. 2 and No. 1 singles, citing her work to get in better shape.
“I had to work on my endurance, because that gives you more confidence in yourself,” Riggs said. “There’s no partner in singles to prop you up. In doubles you work to get points fast and in singles you can have some very long points. Sometimes, it’s hard not to be down on yourself, so I’ve had to work to improve the mental side of the game, too.”
Riggs admitted that there was a noticeable step up in the overall quality and depth of play at No. 1 singles.
“I knew there would be a difference but the thing that made it even more challenging was that most No. 1’s were back from a year ago,” she said.
Other first-team all-WAC selections based upon winning their divisions were Brooke Ptacek of Garden City at No. 2 singles; Abbie Moyers and Anna Popp of Great Bend in No. 1 doubles, and Becca Unruh and America Gamez in No. 2 doubles.
Coach of the Year
Guiding his Lady Buffaloes to the team championship earned first-year coach Logan Bevis of Garden City Coach of the Year honors.
“The girls are the ones that worked for this, and I’ve been helping the last few seasons, so there was not a big change in the way we did things,” Bevis said. “Preparation to get the girls to matches, working with them the last couple of years, made things easier.”
Bevis said working with this group of girls and getting them into the correct division of singles or doubles was the preseason challenge.
“You’ve got to make sure not only you have your best players where they need to be, but you want players who enjoy singles or enjoy doubles to be playing those,” Bevis said. “If a player is dead set against one or the other, it’s an imperfect science to get them to the right place to help the team.”
Aside from losing Ashleigh Chappel and Rilee McGraw to graduation, Bevis will return both singles players as well as two of the four doubles players for 2021.
“We need to find ways to get some good competition in the offseason and summer for the girls, so they can really see some good competition,” Bevis said.
Note: Riggs and Ptacek qualified for the Class 6A state tournament in Olathe, but did not win either of their respective matches.
2020 WAC Tennis Team Standings
| Team | Points |
|---|---|
| Garden City | 13 |
| Dodge City | 10 |
| Great Bend | 8 |
| Liberal | 6 |
| Hays | 3 |
All-League Selections
| No. 1 Singles | Sage Riggs, Garden City |
| No. 2 Singles | Brooke Ptacek, Garden City |
| No. 2 Doubles | Becca Unru/America Gamaz, Dodge City |
| No. 1 Doubles | Abbie Moyers/Anna Popp, Great Bend |
