Lady Buffs’ senior notches 121 wins
During the Haysville-Campus tournament on Sept. 20, Garden City senior Sage Riggs reached the coveted 100 career-wins mark for her Lady Buffs program.
In a season full of many highlights, it was the biggest moment of her four-year varsity career.
She capped it off a few weeks later by teaming up with her junior partner, Sydney Nanninga, to capture the No. 1 doubles title at the Western Athletic Conference championship in Dodge City to conclude one of the most successful tennis chapters in school and conference history.
Riggs has completed the trifecta-plus one WAC championships, as she captured a No. 1 doubles title with Carson Linenberger her freshman season, the No. 2 and No. 1 singles crowns as a sophomore and junior, and then returned to doubles for her senior year to take her second No. 1 title.
For her effort, the WAC coaches voted her the Player of the Year for 2021 as she helped her team repeat the WAC team title, the sixth consecutive season for that accomplishment by the Lady Buffs. They have now won seven of the last WAC team crowns.
Following that 100th career victory, Riggs won 21 more matches before ending her illustrious career with a 12th place medal at the Class 6A state tournament with teammate Sydney Nanninga. It was the first medal for Riggs at state in four seasons and the first in the program’s history since 1997.
For Riggs, the senior year has been everything she had hoped for, and more.
Photo Courtesy Brad Nading/Garden City Telegram.
“It has definitely been a process through all four years,” Riggs said recently in an interview. “I had played two years of singles and before the season started I talked to Coach (Logan) Bevis about which one to play this year. We came to the conclusion that we would have a better chance in regionals and state by playing doubles so that was the decision we made.”
It has paid off as she paired with Nanninga for the first time.
The season got off to a rocky start as they opened the campaign at the toughest tournament they would play all year in the Wichita Collegiate Invitational. Playing a number of state-ranked teams, they managed a 2-3 record.
“We got a lot out of that tournament to give us confidence and also to tell us what we needed to work on to get better,” Riggs said of that opening tournament. “We’ve had a really good season, and we just get along really well.”
Since then, however, as they prepared to compete in Wichita in mid-October, the pair had won 26 of their next 27 matches to enter state with a 28-4 record. There, they won two matches while losing four, most of those to higher-finishing teams, closing out her final season at 30 wins and 8 losses.
“Sage has been a remarkable teammate and a vital part of our program for her four years,” said GCHS tennis coach Logan Bevis. “She’s kind and considerate of others. She’s soft-spoken but also knows how to encourage her teammates. She’s the consummate team player.”
Heading into her senior season, the debate early was whether to continue playing singles for the third straight year, or to pair up with a younger teammate and compete in doubles.
The opportunity to have a better shot at state and to play on the final day of state was too much to pass up, and Riggs and Nanninga made the best of it all season. They never lost to a WAC opponent and also captured the 6A regional title.
“I had never played with Sydney until we played some on the summer tours,” Riggs said of her 2021 partner. “We seemed to get along very well and had a good summer at the Garden City Open. So we thought it would be good to try this, and I think it worked out really well.”
Riggs said her strength as a doubles player is at the baseline, where she can use her backhand as her best groundstroke. Nanninga, meanwhile, prefers playing at the net, so the two complement each other.
As one would expect, there was gradual improvement in all areas of Riggs’ game from her freshman to sophomore to junior and finally her senior season.
“I just continued to work on different skills,” she observed. “I worked on my rallying with the backhand and I’ve gotten more confident in my volleys. I’ve grown and gotten stronger and I’m just overall better with all my strokes from when I was a freshman.”
Riggs admitted to being surprised when it was announced following the WAC Championship that she was named the Player of the Year for the second straight year.
“I was very happy, and surprised,” she said, “because most of the time the player of the year goes to the No. 1 singles player in the conference. It’s a pretty big deal to us and to me. To win it two years in a row is such an honor. Honestly, I was shocked when they announced the awards.”
Of all her senior honors, the two that will stand out will be that 100th career win and winning a medal at the state, while also indicating winning WAC for the fourth straight year, both in singles and doubles, as well as the team title, will be among her most cherished memories.
“I’ve had great coaches and great teammates, so I’ve been fortunate and blessed,” Riggs said of her four years at Garden High.
Tennis and the Riggs family seemingly go hand-in-hand, with her older brother, Evan, having been a member of the Buffaloes’ boys’ team all four of his years in high school while also a four-year state tournament participant. Both her parents, father Brett and mother Dawn, were high school players for the Buffaloes during their time in school.
“I looked up to my brother when I was younger because he was always doing so well and I wanted to see if I could accomplish some of the same things he did,” Sage said. “He surprised me and came to the WAC this year, but he’s always encouraged me and given me some tips since he also played doubles.”
The daily discussion at the evening dinner table would usually find its way to tennis, Riggs said, with her parents’ interest and knowledge of the sport.
“Definitely dad loves to talk tennis,” Riggs said of her father. “He’s telling me and encouraging me on the things I can improve.”
One tournament near the end of the season, the Lady Buffs switched up their lineup which allowed Riggs to play four singles matches, winning all four of them including an 8-2 win over Hutchinson’s Gracie Foster, an opponent to whom she had lost the 6A regional singles title in 2020.
“It didn’t mean a lot as far as the record goes, but I was so happy to have a chance to play her and then to beat her was really a good accomplishment,” Riggs said. “I got to player her in my third singles match that day which allowed me to readjust to the singles court. It got me into the swing of things and it made for a fun day.”
For Bevis, it will be a strange occurrence in 2022 when there is no Sage Riggs on the court for his Lady Buffs.
“She’s been a part of the program every year that I’ve been here, so I think it will be different to look around and not see her,” Bevis said. “She’s one of the best kids I’ve been around and we will really miss her.”
With respect to his Coach of the Year award, Bevis credited the play of his team for earning him the honor.
“It’s the girls who went out and did all the hard work in practice and all of that paid off in the tournaments,” Bevis said. “It was a very good year and winning WAC is always one of our main goals.”
It was the sixth consecutive team championship in the WAC for the Lady Buffs and the seventh in the past eight seasons.
2021 WAC Championship Team Standings
| Team | Points | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Garden City | 16 |
| 2 | Dodge City | 7 |
| 3 | Hays | 6 |
| 3 | Liberal | 6 |
| 5 | Great Bend | 5 |
2021 WAC All-Conference Girls Tennis
| Class | Player(s) | Team |
|---|---|---|
| No. 1 Singles | Brooke Ptacek | Garden City |
| No. 2 Singles | Alivia Palmer | Garden City |
| No. 1 Doubles | Sage Riggs/Sydney Nanninga | Garden City |
| No. 2 Doubles | Chloe Powell/Payton Tull | Garden City |
Coach of the Year: Logan Bevis, Garden City
