Led by first-place showings in both doubles brackets, the Joplin High School girls tennis team won the Thomas Jefferson Invitational on Friday.
The Eagles finished with 22 points, while the host Cavaliers were second with 17. North Kansas City took third with 12 points. Also competing were Carthage (9), Aurora (6.5), College Heights (5.5), Webb City (4.5) and Neosho (1).
“The ladies had a great outing today,” Joplin assistant coach Richard Perry said. “Everyone came prepared and focused, and it really showed. We were able to run through doubles with relative ease and that’s nice to see since that is such a focus for us at practice. When the girls are competitive and feel like they have something to prove then they can play with the best of them. Overall it was a great day and gives us some much-needed confidence going into next week.”
Joplin’s Emma Watts and Astrid Cardenas won the No. 1 doubles bracket by going 3-0.
The Eagles defeated Neosho’s Jasmine Martinez-Alexandra Olsbo 8-0 in the first round, North Kansas City’s Adele Merchant-Katreena Dinh 8-1 in the semifinals and Carthage’s Kianna Yates-Daniela Marquez 8-2 in the title match.
“Astrid and Emma came out of the gates swinging in the finals and played a much cleaner game against Carthage,” Perry said. “It was the type of win they knew they could have and wanted to prove it since they had a tougher time on Tuesday.”
Joplin’s No. 2 doubles team of Cloey Blank and Brynn Driver also took first place.
The Eagles defeated North Kansas City’s Esther Ko-Lilly Gerend 8-2 in the first round, handled Webb City’s Kylee Smith-Walker Hoffman 8-2 in the semifinals and then beat Thomas Jefferson’s Emily Ro-Warda Morsy 8-1 in the title match.
“Brynn and Cloey dominated at the net and played very well,” Perry commented.
Also at No. 2 doubles, Aurora’s Emily Gearhart-Kloey Boyd beat Smith-Hoffman 8-3 for third. Carthage’s Cassidy Whitley-Lynnd Guerra dropped the fifth-place match to Ko-Gerend 8-2.
At No. 1 singles, Joplin’s Abry Stayton took third place.
Stayton defeated Webb City’s Kirsalyn Hood 8-1, suffered an 8-0 setback to North Kansas City’s Sydney Fuger and then defeated College Heights Christian’s Jem Kionasala 8-3 for third place.
Perry noted Stayton simply ran into a stellar player in the semifinals.
“Abry had a tough opponent in the semis,” Perry said of Fuger. “It’s not everyday you get to play one of the top girls in the country. She battled hard against her and I think it really made her hungry for improvement.”
In the fifth-place match, Webb City’s Hood edged Neosho’s Claudia Martensen 8-6.
Joplin’s Mya Ndedi-Ntepe was the runner-up at No. 2 singles. She defeated Webb City’s Kinzlea Smith 8-3, topped College Heights’ Natalie Brueggemann 8-4 and then lost to Thomas Jefferson’s Jeanna Jeyaraj 8-5.
“Mya had an excellent outing,” Perry said. “I think she felt she had something to prove from last night. She had a decisive victory in the first round against the No. 3 seed. In the second match she had to hustle the whole time to find her victory. She had a lead in the finals, but her luck ran out. By the end she was dripping with sweat because she had to out-work every girl she played. She was a severe underdog going in, but she performed better than I even thought she could at times.”
Carthage’s Katie Barton won the third-place match 8-4 over Brueggemann, while Webb City’s Smith took fifth by beating Neosho’s Lydnsey Doke 8-1.
THOMAS JEFFERSON RESULTS
Thomas Jefferson’s Jeyaraj won the No. 2 singles bracket for her team’s lone first-place finish.
After a first-round bye, Jeyaraj defeated Carthage’s Barton 8-1 in the semifinals and Ndedi-Ntepe 8-5 in the title match.
Thomas Jefferson’s Ding was the runner-up in the No. 1 singles bracket. After a first-round bye, Ding defeated College Heights’ Kionasala 8-1. In the title match, North Kansas City’s Fuger defeated Ding 8-0.
At No. 1 doubles, Thomas Jefferson’s Kyla Yang-Jessica Joseph won the fifth-place match by beating College Heights Christian’s Hannah Bass-Avery Baker 8-3. The duo of Ro-Morsy took second at No. 2 doubles.
THOMAS JEFFERSON INVITATIONAL
No. 1 Singles
First round matches
Kionasala (CHC) def. Martensen (NEO) 8-0; Fuger (NKC) def. Lopez (CAR) 8-0; Stayton (JOP) def. Hood (WC) 8-1.
Consolation
Hood def. Lopez 8-4; Hood def. Martensen 8-6.
Semifinals
Ding (TJ) def. Kionasala 8-1; Fuger def. Stayton 8-0.
Third Place
Stayton def. Kionasala 8-3.
Title Match
Fuger def. Ding 8-0.
No. 2 Singles
First round matches
Barton (CAR) def. Doke (NEO) 8-1; Brueggemann (CHC) def. Skaggs (NKC) 9-8 (7-5); Ndedi-Ntepe (JOP) def. Smith (WC) 8-3.
Consolation
Smith def. Skaggs 8-6; Smith def. Doke 8-1.
Semifinals
Jeyaraj (TJ) def. Barton 8-2; Ndedi-Ntepe def. Brueggemann 8-4.
Third Place
Barton def. Brueggemann 8-4.
Title Match
Jeyaraj def. Ndedi-Ntepe 8-5.
No. 1 Doubles
First round matches
Watts-Cardenas (JOP) def. Martinez-Olsbo (NEO) 8-0; Merchant-Dinh (NKC) def. Bass-Baker (CHC) 8-6; Yates-Marquez (CAR) def. Hollingsworth-Ensminger (WC) 8-0; Ray-Bradley (AUR) def. Yang-Joseph (TJ) 9-8 (11-9).
Consolation Bracket
Bass-Baker def. Martinez-Olsbo 8-2; Yang-Joseph def. Hollingsworth-Ensminger 8-5; Yang-Joseph def. Bass-Baker 8-3.
Semifinals
Watts-Cardenas def. Merchant-Dinh 8-1; Yates-Marquez def. Ray-Bradley 8-1.
Third Place
Merchant-Dinh def. Ray-Bradley 8-4.
Title Match
Watts-Cardenas def. Yates-Marquez 8-2.
No. 2 Doubles
First round matches
Gearhart-Boyd (AUR) def. Whitley-Guerra (CAR) 8-4; Ro-Morsy (TJ) def. Keeton-Martensen (NEO) 8-2; Smith-Hoffman (WC) def. Bishop-Smathers (CHC) 9-7; Blank-Driver (JOP) def. Ko-Gerend (NKC) 8-2.
Consolation
Whitley-Guerra def. Keeton-Martensen 8-5; Ko-Gerend def. Bishop-Smathers 8-4; Ko-Gerend def. Whitley-Guerra 8-2.
Semifinals
Ro-Morsy def. Gearhart-Boyd 8-3; Blank-Driver def. Smith-Hoffman 8-2.
Third Place
Gearhart-Boyd def. Smith-Hoffman 8-3.
Title Match
Blank-Driver def. Ro-Morsy 8-1.
