CHANUTE — The number twos shined for the Iola girls tennis team on Thursday as both sophomore number two singles player Allie Utley and the sophomore number two doubles team of Carlie Payne and Gabby Richards went unblemished to lead the varsity team to a second place finished in their first meet of the season at Chanute.
While the Fillies have placed second at home meets, head coach Jenn Bycroft had trouble remembering the last time her team placed higher than third over the past several years.
“It was the best that we’ve done in a while,” Bycroft said.
Utley rolled through her competition, losing just three sets in her first three matches until winning an 8-6 battle over Chanute’s Selena Stich to get her fourth win of the day.
“Allie had an awesome night of tennis,” Bycroft said. “She came back from being down 3-0 in that final match to win. Match point was awesome to see. She rushed the net and put away an overhead volley for the win.”
The Fillies top singles player, junior Jennifer Tidd, struggled at times but opened up the match with an 8-1 win over Kaylee Tigner of Neodesha. Tidd was blanked in the second and fourth matches of the tournament by players from Labette and Chanute.
“She improved her strokes throughout her matches,” Bycroft said. “She struggled a bit in following through so we’ll be working on that in practice more. I was glad to see her get two wins tonight.”
On the doubles side, the undefeated run by Payne and Richards was a pleasant surprise. Payne played in just one varsity match last season and this was Richards’s first ever taste of competitive tennis.
You wouldn’t have guessed it, though.
They buzzed through their first three opponents, grabbing 8-0 wins in each before an 8-4 win over Chanute to close out the tournament.
“The thing I noticed about the two of them was they hustled for every ball and they really backed each other up so well,” Bycroft said.
Finally, Iola’s top doubles team of senior Macayla Bycroft and senior Erin Klubek went 2-2 on the day and barely missed out on a third win, falling 8-7 to Labette County after a tie-breaker. They beat the team from Columbus with ease in the third match before falling 8-0 to Chanute in the final match.
Even with the two losses, Bycroft was pleased with what she saw from her top doubles team and has plenty for them to work on in practice.
“Macayla’s serves were strong and Erin’s backhand improved throughout the matches,” Bycroft said. “They both hustled after the ball, each taking a pretty nasty fall. But they got right back up and didn’t quit. I think we should’ve won the tiebreak match against Labette. We just got a little sloppy out there and missed some easy shots. They went 2-2, so I was happy for those wins.”
The Fillies will hit the court again next Thursday as they host Parsons, Independence and Columbus at 3 p.m. at the Iola High School tennis courts.
