COFFEYVILLE — Closing out the regular tennis season, Iola High’s Fillies played matches Tuesday hosted by Coffeyville’s Field Kindley High School.
Iola’s No. 1 doubles team of Abbey St. Clair and Alexis Hobbs claimed two victories. They dropped two other decisions.
St. Clair and Hobbs opened with an 8-0 win over Nogvera and Soyoung of Coffeyville. They lost 8-1 to Rogers and Jump of Parsons.
“Abbey and Alexis had another great night. The highlight of the night was winning the tiebreak against Pittsburg,” said Jennifer Bycroft, Fillies’ tennis coach. “There were some bad calls. I just told Abbey and Alexis that they would have to fight harder to pull out the win and they did.”
St. Clair and Hobbs defeated Pittsburg’s Cicero and Sullivan 8-7 (9-7). They lost 8-2 to Chanute’s Lieudahl and Thuston.
“Even though the Chanute team beat us, our girls played tough and played many games to deuce,” Bycroft said. “I was very proud of them and their good attitude through it all.”
Iola’s No. 2 doubles team of Shelby Reno and Bobbi Sinclair went 1-3. They lost a heartbreaker 8-7 (7-4) to Pittsburg’s Benedict and McQuarie.
Reno and Sinclair notched an 8-5 win over Coffeyville’s Burroughs and Cox. They lost 8-4 to Parsons’ Foster and Farris and lost 8-2 to Chanute’s Bearrick and Ungles of Chanute.
“Losing the tiebreaker to Pittsburg was tough on our girls,” Bycroft said. “They had close matches all night and I was pleased with their hustle and endurance. They are getting better and that’s what I like to see.”
Katana Smith went 0-4 as Iola’s No. 1 singles player. She lost 8-6 to Aubrie Navarro of Coffeyville and 8-1 to Madison Wendt of Chanute. She dropped 8-0 decisions to Parsons’ Malina Kipp and to Pittsburg’s Olivia Laidler.
In No. 2 singles competition, Iola’s Megan Smith was 0-4. She lost 8-2 to Coffeyville’s Anna Kathryn Smith, 8-0 to Sami Ford of Parsons, 8-3 to Molly Lundberg of Pittsburg and 8-1 to Rebecca Wendt of Chanute.
Iola now prepares for Kansas Class 4A regionals, Oct. 5-6, hosted by Independence High School.
