On Friday, August 30th and Saturday, August 31st, the lady hornets’ tennis team started their season off with their traditional trip to the Joplin Interstate Tournament. This event hosts 24 teams from Missouri and Arkansas with Friday consisting of three rounds of pool play and Saturday finishing with three rounds of bracket play. Coach Chambers and Coach Pyrtle both insist that their annual season opener at Joplin is the best start for their varsity team no matter how tough the large school competition is. The seven members of the varsity team all get a chance to bond on an overnight trip, they are each guaranteed six full matches, and none of the matches affect district or conference standing. MSHSAA does not allow individual sports like tennis to participate in preseason jamborees or scrimmages. Therefore, the Chillicothe coaches use their Joplin and Platte County tournaments, both in the first eight days of eligible play, as their scrimmage, especially this year after not having any tennis courts open in the county since May.
Chillicothe faced much larger schools for most of its Joplin trip including the two largest high schools in Arkansas, but by the end of the two days, all seven lady hornet netters earned at least their first win of the season and everyone had a chance to play both some singles and some doubles matches. Results were as follows:
Team Results:
Chillicothe lost to College Heights 0-5
Chillicothe lost to Bentonville, AR 0-5
Chillicothe lost to Rogers 2, AR 0-5
Chillicothe lost to Joplin 2-3
Chillicothe lost to Rogers Heritage, AR 2-3
Chillicothe beat Nevada 5-0
Individual Results:
Senior Micah Crowe, #1 ranked starter, went 2-4 on the weekend.
Senior Keonnia Morgan, #2 ranked starter, went 1-5 on the weekend.
Senior Bianca Clark, #3 ranked starter, went 2-4 on the weekend.
Senior Keeley Shira, #4 ranked starter, went 1-5 on the weekend.
Sophomore Jasmine McLean, #5 ranked starter, went 3-3 on the weekend.
Senior Sarah George, #6 ranked starter, went 1-5 on the weekend.
Junior Summer Gatson, #7 ranked starter, went 2-4 on the weekend.
The Lady Hornets’ Tennis Team begins district and conference play this Wednesday in Savannah.
