The Lady Hornets Tennis team has been competing non-stop since the season began last Friday. They were in the Joplin tournament over the weekend to begin the year, and have had two duels against teams in their district early this week. Here is a recap of how their season has begun:
After a trip to the State Final Four last season, the Chillicothe High School Lady Hornets’ tennis team was honored to be invited to the newly formed Joplin Interstate Tournament. They began play early Friday morning as one of 24 teams competing from Missouri, Arkansas, & Illinois. The day was filled with pool play consisting of a mixture of teams from all three MSHSAA classes of tennis. All matches began at 7 am due to the extreme heat advisory & were shortened to only Pro-4, No Ad sets (with no tie breaks either) in order to complete matches before the wet-bulb index canceled afternoon play.
First up, the Class 1 Lady Hornets faced Class 2 Willard High School. The Hornets lost the match overall 2-5, but played well with success from both the veterans & new varsity starters. At #1 Singles, Rylee Washburn won solidly 4-2 against Alyssa Flynn. #2 Single Isabella Garr lost to Evie Sly in a tight match 3-4. #3 Singles Bryton BeVelle lost to Jacey Wilson 0-4. #4 Singles Micah Crowe lost to Katelyn Long 4-1. Bianca Clark did not get to begin her #5 Singles match before the team match was called for Willard. #6 Singles Keonnia Morgan was performing well against Bri Mauschbaugh, winning 3-2 and only 3 points away from winning her match, when the team match was called. In Doubles #1, Washburn & Garr fell to Flynn & Sly 0-4. However, BeVelle & Crowe were firing on all cylinders with a strong 4-2 win over Polites & Wilson. And Clark & Keeley Shira lost at #3 Doubles to Essary & Mauschbaugh.
Two hours later, the team faced potentially their hardest dual of the entire season against Class 3 Staley High School. The team had to play most of the match indoors because of the heat advisory. This allowed them to complete all 9 matches, though, which was great skill building for the entire team against the highest quality competitors. While the Lady Hornets lost 0-9 as a team, they all played really high quality tennis, hitting & serving at new levels.
Rylee Washburn lost to Class 3 State qualifier (last year as a sophomore) Ella Gates 0-4. Isabella Garr lost to Carli Hurtt 0-4. Bryton BeVelle lost to Nekerra Neel 0-4. Micah Crowe came up one final point short of winning her match after tremendous play against Chloe McClendon 3-4. Bianca Clark lost to Sophia Frederick 1-4. Keonnia Morgan lost to Abby Coen 0-4. In Doubles, Washburn & Garr held their own with Gates & McClendon winning many exciting, tough points, but eventually losing 1-4. BeVelle & Crowe fell to Hurtt & Neel 0-4. And Clark & Shira played well, only losing to Frederick & Molly Walters 2-4.
Coaches Chambers & Pyrtle were excited to start the new season off with such high level of play, which they feel will help their team perform so much better in their own district & conference.
On Saturday, the Chillicothe girls’ tennis team began the bracket play portion of the two-day Joplin Interstate Tournament. First up, the team faced Nevada High School, where the Lady Hornets won 6-2 to move on to winner’s bracket for the remainder of the day. Scores were as follows:
Doubles #1 of Rylee Washburn & Isabella Garr won against Hennessy Brown & Mia Fulton 6-3
Doubles #2 of Bryton BeVelle & Micah Crowe lost to Allie McCaffree & Preslee Bower 2-6
Doubles #3 of Bianca Clark & Keeley Shira won against Braelyn Harth & Lailee Chadd 6-2
Singles #1 Washburn lost to Brown 1-6
Singles #2 Garr won against Fulton 6-2
Singles #3 BeVelle won against McCaffree 6-2
Singles #4 Crowe won against Bower 6-3
Singles #5 was not played due to time limit
Singles #6 Keonnia Morgan won against Chadd 6-1
In the semifinals, Chillicothe faced Edwardsville, Illinois’ second team as they brought two teams to compete in the large tournament. The team played solid tennis, but lost to the strong Edwardsville team 2-6. Results were as follows:
Washburn & Garr lost to Peel & Hayes 4-6
BeVelle & Garr lost to Washington & Carruthers 3-6
Clark & Shira lost to Marty & Selimi 0-6
Washburn lost to Peel 1-6
Garr beat Hayes 6-4
Shira lost to Washington 2-6
Clark lost to Marty 1-6
Morgan beat Selimi 6-4
In the final match of the day, Chillicothe played College Heights Christian High School. After such a long second day in the heat, both teams played were tired but played great tennis. Unfortunately, the Hornets lost a few crucial deuce & tie break points that made the final score deceivingly one-sided even though the matches were pretty evenly matched. Scores were:
Washburn & Garr lost to Brueggemaan & Bishop in a nail biter 5-7
BeVelle & Crowe lost to Smathers & Cummins 1-6
Clark & Shira lost to Shachleford & Haltzel 2-6
Washburn lost to Brueggemaan 3-6
BeVelle lost to Smathers 2-6
Monday night at the Truman State University tennis courts, the Chillicothe girls’ tennis team faced off against a strong Kirksville Tiger team. This was an important match, even though still early in the season, because both teams are opponents in the District 15 playoffs in early October. This August matchup determines seeding and home court advantage for playoff season, so a team win was a definite goal for the night.
The Lady Hornets edged out a 5-4 victory over the Lady Tigers with decisive leadership from senior Rylee Washburn and important clutch wins from the entire junior class. Scores were as follows:
Doubles #1 — Rylee Washburn and Isabella Garr won against Katlynn DeLeon and Madisynn Crawford 8-3
Doubles #2 — Bryton BeVelle and Micah Crowe lost to Ashley Combs and Diana Lam 6-8
Doubles #3 — Bianca Clark and Keeley Shira won against Ava Hamlin and Maya Manney 8-4
Singles #1 — Washburn beat DeLeon 8-0
Singles #2 — Garr lost to Combs 4-8
Singles #3 — BeVelle lost to Crawford 6-8
Singles #4 — Crowe beat Lam 8-0
Singles #5 — Clark lost to Hamlin 4-8
Singles #6 — Keonnia Morgan beat Manney 8-3
The JV team began their season at Kirksville after varsity began a few days ago in Joplin. The JV squad contains a few veterans but also a lot of new, eager players. Coach Chambers reported that they all played well for first time matches, and she is excited to see their progress each match moving forward. Scores were as follows:
Keeley Shira beat Marquelle Stoskopf 6-4
Keonnia Morgan and Sarah George beat Stoskopf and Shoop 6-2
Rian Mathwes and Lexi Lybarger lost to Macy Darnel and Celestine G 1-6
Jasmine McLean and Sarah Boon lost to Varsha M. and Ella Seerdorf 4-6
Lexi Lybarger and Arisha Shafiq lost to Alexis Gardner and Allyson Snyder 3-6
Sophia Littleton and Anya Moore lost to Lauren Fortney and Ellie Farwell 1-6
Kierra Williams and Leighton Kelly lost to Lydia Dawson and Emma Helmer 3-6
Littleton and Moore beat Kayla Hetrick and Allison Darnell 6-0
Williams and Kelly lost to Shalini Bansal and partner 2-6
In another important district matchup to help determine post season standings and home court advantage, Chillicothe High School’s girls’ tennis team beat Cameron’s team 9-0 Tuesday evening backed by the support of a strong home court crowd for their first appearance at Danner Park this school year.
Varsity scores were as follows:
#1 Singles Rylee Washburn beat Hallie Foster 8-0
#2 Singles Isabella Garr beat Hayley Miller 8-2
#3 Singles Bryton BeVelle beat Harley Burton 8-1
#4 Singles Micah Crowe beat Autumn Dotson 8-1
#5 Singles Bianca Clark beat Kymber Spicer 8-0
#6 Singles Keonnia Morgan beat Gracee Spicer 8-0
#1 Doubles Washburn & Garr beat Foster & K Spicer 8-0
#2 Doubles BeVelle & Crowe beat Miller & Dotson 8-1
#3 Doubles Clark & Keeley Shira beat Burton & G Spicer 8-0
JV Scores were as follows:
Keonnia Morgan & Sarah George beat Karli Campbell & Linlee Hamilton 6-0
Summer Gatson & Rian Mathews beat Wynter & Macy Essary 6-0
Lexi Lybarger beat M Essary 6-0
Arisha Shafiq & Trixie Leppin lost to their opponents 4-6
Sophia Littleton & Anya Moore beat Hamilton & Nicole Essary 6-3
Leighton Kelly & Kierra Williams beat their opponents 6-2
The Lady Hornets Tennis team is now 3-4 on the season and 2-0 against district opponents. Their next match will be Wednesday night, at home once again at Danner Park, beginning at 4pm against Savannah.
