Thursday, Oct. 17, the first of two days of the tennis state tournament at the Koch Tennis Center in Omaha, the eighth seeded Warriors played close matches against tough opponents and came up short of making it to the second day.

All of the Warriors beat their opponents in the first round, allowing them to move on to the second round in the single elimination playoff.

The first Warrior to be knocked out of the tournament was No. 1 singles player junior Sean Padios. Padios fell 6-3, 6-0 to Lincoln Southeast. But, the rest of the team fared slightly better.

Junior Max Slosburg won 6-0, 6-1 at No. 2 singles against Omaha Central in the second round. Slosburg went on to lose to Lincoln Southeast 6-2, 6-0 in round three.

At No. 1 doubles, senior Camden Bilyeu and junior Tom Kutilek played a thrilling second round match against Papillion-LaVista South. In the first set, the teams played to a tie, trading games back and forth. Westside won 7-1 in the tiebreaker, to take the 7-6 set win. The Titans tied up the set count when they got a big 6-1 win. Bilyeu and Kutilek shrugged off the loss and went back to work and held off the Titans for a 6-4 set win to take the match 2-1.

Bilyeu and Kutilek were unable to get a win the third round, losing 2-0 against Lincoln Southeast.

At No. 2 doubles, senior Tyler Siegel and junior Teigen Swanson beat Papillion-LaVista No. 2 doubles 7-5, 6-2 in round two. The pair went on to lose to Creighton Prep 6-4, 6-3 in round three.

Overall, players thought the tournament went well.

“Everyone went out there and we all did our best,” Slosburg said. “And we had a lot of close matches that people didn’t expect to be close so that was good. I think the important thing is this was a good experience. We have a pretty young team and this is just going to make us better for next year.”