Amelia’s Buten twins, Holly and Mallory, recently had to play each other for the first time in actual competition during the Southern Buckeye Conference Tennis Tournament that took place at Blanchester High School.
Within the last 47 years this writer can not remember twin sisters competing against each other in Clermont County athletics. Last week at the Southern Buckeye Conference Girls Tennis Tournament that took place at Blanchester High School, Amelia High School juniors Holly and Mallory Buten competed against each other in the quarter finals.

Holly advanced to this family showdown by defeating Sydney Clancy of New Richmond 6-1, 6-0 and Beth Huffman of East Clinton 6-3, 6-0.

Mallory advanced through the first two rounds with wins over Sarah Jones of New Richmond 6-1, 6-3 and Kaitlyn Waters of Felicity 6-1, 6-1.

“It was very mentally challenging. We’ve been competitive our whole lives,” said Holly. “I’m glad it’s over. I never want to go through it again. I was frustrated when it was over. I felt bad for her. I wasn’t looking forward to it. It was very challenging mentally and physically.”

“I was nervous. It was the first time we’ve played each other for real. I was never relaxed,” said Mallory. “It was really frustrating. I don’t want to go through that again anytime soon.”

Their coach, Adam Moler, said, “Holly won the first game 6-2 and was up 5-2 in the second when Mallory came back up and won 7-5. Then Holly won the match tie breaker 10-4.

“I just sat back when they were playing each other and pretty much enjoyed it all. They both played well.”

Moler establishes a Game Face Award for each for each of his team’s matches. He explained the Face stands for Focus, Attitude, Consistency, and Effort. “They both showed every bit of that,” he said of their racket to racket showdown.

Michelle Buten, the twins’ mother, said, “It was much harder to watch than I thought it would be. It’s impossible to be happy. It was very hard to see either of them get on themself. I was glad when it was over with and that they both played well. I wanted it to be close.”

Bob Ray, the girls’ grandfather was also a spectator.

“I enjoyed it all. They are two very special twins.”

“We were fine after it was over with. From here we’re just going to enjoy the season,” said Mallory.

In the singles division of the Blan Invite, in addition to the Buten’s duel, in the quarter finals Clare Schaljo of Bethel-Tate was a winner 6-2, 6-3, as was Hannah Fulks of Amelia over Megan Obermeyer of Felicity 6-0, 6-2. In the semi-finals, Morgan Wright of Western Brown downed Holly Buten 6-0, 6-0 and Fulks overcame Schaljo 7-6 (8), 6-2. Wright won the championship contests 6-2, 6-1.