Bean and McAtee are Semoball finalist after undefeated season

KENNETT, Mo. - Claire Bean was four years old when she first picked up a tennis racket. After playing tee ball for some time, she wanted to try something new. 

She convinced her mom to let her try tennis and take her to the junior tennis clinics at Kennett High School with head coach Janette Hilburn.

“I didn’t know what to think of (tennis) at first because I was so little,” Bean said. “But after my first lesson with Janette I decided I really like this sport, so I kept doing lessons with her and she was the first coach I started out with.”

Now, Bean is competing on the Kennett-Holcomb Tennis team under Hilburn’s back-to-back Missouri Class 1 State Champion team. Bean along with her doubles partner, Handley McAtee, have accomplished an undefeated season. They were 34-0 in the Fall of 2023.

The duo has won the state doubles tournament two years in a row, becoming the first players in Kennett history to win state two years in a row. They have only lost one doubles match over two seasons.

Bean, going into her junior year at Holcomb, said she hoped McAtee would be her partner when Bean was an incoming freshman.

“I didn’t know much about (McAtee),” Bean said. “I just knew of her because she was a good tennis player and was a year above me. I was nervous and didn’t know how the team would be because they just won a state championship and I wanted to come in and help them but I was just a girl from Holcomb.”

Holcomb is a town of about 600 people and around 200 kids attending the high school. Kennett’s High School has a student population of about 500 kids, only a century less than Holcomb’s town population. 

Due to its low population, Holcomb does not have enough girls to fill a tennis roster. In fact, Bean is the only player on Holcomb’s roster according to the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA). 

Despite her fears of being inadequate for Kennett’s roster, Hilburn saw Bean as a great pair for McAtee.

“It’s funny because neither one of them are big into talking,” Hilburn said. “They’re very quiet, but their chemistry when they are together makes them better. They are both great singles players but I thought ‘why don’t we play doubles because neither one of them are chiefs and they can work well together’. And they thought it was a good idea and it just happened that they ended up being really successful.”

McAtee’s love for tennis started at 8 years old. She said she learned a lot from Hilburn in the past three seasons on Kennett’s tennis team. 

In three years, McAtee was on two teams which won the state title her freshman and sophomore year. She then partnered up with Bean to win the doubles title her sophomore and junior year. 

According to McAtee, the success in her three years on the team has been from the hard work of her teammates and the coach Hilburn. She said the team works hard to honor her coaching.

“(Hilburn) really pushes us every practice and every match,” McAtee said. “She really believes in us so she will push us to our limits but she is also just a great person to go talk to about anything. She prepares us very well for matches and it's a great connection between us and the coach.”

Along with tennis accolades, McAtee is a finalist for SEMOball softball player of the year after helping her team to a runner-up finish at the Missouri State Class 2 Championships. The Kennett softball team finished with a 25-9 record. 

Now she looks for another trip to the state tournament in both sports heading into her last year as a Kennett Indian.

“I can’t wait to see what senior year has in store,” McAtee said. “Claire and I both worked very hard individually and our team works hard each summer. I’m just looking forward to having fun and spending my last season with these girls.”

McAtee said overtime, her chemistry with Bean just continues to grow.

Now, in matches, McAtee doesn’t worry about how to win or what they need to do to win. She said when she is on the court with Bean, everything just becomes second nature.

“Claire is a great doubles partner because I never have to look back,” McAtee said. “I just know she will always be there. We work really well because we just go out on the court and we know what we need to do and we have fun doing it.’ 

McAtee said working with Bean has helped her develop into a better tennis player.

Both players also take tennis lessons out of the country club at Jonesboro, Arkansas. There, they work on fundamentals of the sport to perfect their craft.

Hilburn said the leadership of Bean and McAtee has helped with the mentality of having a state winning mindset. 

Despite being upset about only having one more season with McAtee, Bean is excited to have one more run at state with her doubles partner.

“Working together and being close to each other and knowing how we both work on the court has helped our success,” Bean said. “If we keep doing that and keep grinding together, we’ll be in good shape.”

The 2024 Semoball Awards will be held at LaCroix Church on July 12. A red carpet showing will begin at 5:30p.m. and the cermony will start at 7p.m.