The Lady Hornets Tennis team grabbed a narrow 5-4 victory in an upset at the Savannah High School courts Wednesday night. Savannah was led by returning State medalist Iris Alvarez along with a thriving program of 33 total players. Savannah girls tennis ended their season last year second in the MEC overall, while Chillicothe finished seventh. However, the Lady Hornets took the court with hope this year, eyeing a tight but possible victory.
After Doubles play ended, prospects were looking tough. Carpenter & BeVelle fell to Alvarez & Blake 2-8, and Kieffer & Crowe also lost to Savannah’s Huffman & Abbott 2-8. But Chillicothe’s Washburn & Garr powered through their doubles match winning 8-2 against Rudel & Till.
Chillicothe knew they had to pull off four big singles’ wins to capture the dual title for this year. Carpenter lost to Alvarez 0-8 while BeVelle and Garr were also battling in incredibly tight matches further down the court.
After struggling early on against Savannah’s Till, BeVelle reset and charged to an 8-6 win in a nail-biting match. Next to her, Garr held an originally commanding lead over Till until giving up several games mid-match, but Garr finished strongly with an 8-6 win. Next up in singles play, Rylee Washburn dominated in her singles match versus Rudel winning 8-2. Micah Crowe lost her singles match to Allie Moore 8-3, while Madison Kieffer battled on beside her. Knowing the Team Dual score was tied up 4-4, senior Madison Kieffer stepped up to the pressure utilizing her tough left-handed serve and dozens of perfectly placed corner shots to win her match 8-2.
In JV competition, Chillicothe athletes each played numerous matches in order for Savannah’s large JV squad to all play. JV contest ended in a 7-7 tie. Scores were as follows:
Keonnia Morgan & Anna Pfaff lost 3-5, then won 4-0, and finally lost 0-4.
Keeley Shira & Emma Thomas lost 1-4, then lost 1-4 again, but finally won 4-1.
Sarah George & Sarah Boon won 4-1 and then won 4-0.
Bianca Clark & Rian Mathews wont 5-3 and then won 4-0.
Helena England & Arisha Shafiq lost 2-4 and then lost 0-4.
Trixie Leppin & Sarah George won 4-2.
Trixie Leppin & Sarah Boon lost 2-4.
