The Iola girls tennis team defended its home courts on Thursday with lights out performances from the Fillies’ doubles teams and their number two singles player, doing enough to land a first place finish overall.
“Without looking back through all of the records of my 12 years of coaching, I can’t for sure say how long it’s been since we’ve taken first place at our home tourney,” head coach Jenn Bycroft said. “I am so proud of the girls and their efforts. Each played with intensity, and even though most won by a huge margin, no one let up. They hustled after every ball, and I’m always glad to see them put shots away.”
The first place finish comes just a week after the Fillies finished second at the season opening tournament in Chanute.
The number one doubles team for the Fillies, consisting of seniors Macayla Bycroft and Erin Klubek, ran into a little more resistance than the other two undefeated Fillies teams. After an 8-1 win over Columbus to open up the tournament the senior pair found themselves in a battle versus Independence. After Independence tied it up at 4-4, Bycroft and Klubek kicked it into gear, winning the next four points for an 8-4 win.
They finished out the tournament with an 8-2 win over Parsons.
“This is the third year they’ve played doubles together and they really work pretty well together,” Jenn Bycroft said. “They encourage each other, back each other up, and they don’t give up and they have fun. I like to see that. It was exciting for me to have them win all of their matches at their last home match of their senior year. I think they will always remember that.”
Iola’s other doubles team met almost no resistance in their three matches and the team of Carlie Payne and Gabby Richards went 24-0 in sweeps over Columbus, Independence and Parsons.
Number two singles player Allie Utley continued to shine in her second varsity meet of her career, taking care of Jaden Spainhower of Columbus 8-0 and Soli Groff of Independence 8-1. Parsons did not bring a number two singles player so Utley recorded an automatic win.
Number one singles player Jennifer Tidd was not able to find her stride as she went winless, falling to Bethany Robison of Columbus, 8-2, Meredith Campbell of Independence, 8-0 and Ayanna Correll-Renfor, 8-1.
The Fillies will be Independence bound next Thursday for their third tournament of the season.
