Watts defeated Barstow’s Sanjana Akkulugari 8-3 for third place.
In other singles action, Joplin’s Brynn Driver suffered a 6-0, 6-0 setback to Lee’s Summit West’s Anna Taylor.
Ray-Pec’s Peyton Koper was the district champion, with her teammate Finn the runner-up. Both will advance.
Joplin’s doubles team of Mya Ndedi Ntepe and Jensen Vowels defeated Lee’s Summit North’s Abigail Langle and Jia Patel 7-5, 6-3. The Eagles suffered a 6-0, 6-1 loss to Barstow’s Mary Colombo and Lianna Adams, a duo that finished as the state runner-up last season.
Joplin’s Bonnie Smith and Alex Carson lost 6-0, 6-1 to Barstow’s Aishi Sethi and Zoey Harabe.
The top two doubles teams were Barstow’s Adams-Colombo and Lee’s Summit’s Jordyn Gross-Kiersten Crowley. Barstow’s duo won the title match 6-3, 4-6, 10-4.
Carthage’s Kianna Yates-Daniela Marquez finished fourth in the doubles bracket.
The team district tournament is scheduled for Monday.
Sixth-seeded Joplin is at third-seeded Lee’s Summit West in the opening round, while seventh-seeded Carthage is at second-seeded Raymore-Peculiar.
The Joplin High School girls tennis program hosted the Birds & Bears Invitational on Wednesday at the JHS athletic complex.
The Grain Valley Eagles went 3-0 and took first place in the round-robin dual tourney. The host Joplin Eagles went 2-1 and took second place.
Webb City and Monett were third and fourth, respectively.
Each dual featured two singles matches and three doubles matches.
Joplin defeated Webb City 3-2.
Joplin’s Emma Watts defeated Kinzlea Smith 8-4 at No. 1 singles, while Brynn Driver beat Webb City’s Ayla McDonald 8-2 at No. 2 singles.
At No. 1 doubles, Webb City’s Brynlee Hollingsworth and Ally Ansley defeated Mya Ndedi Ntepe and Jensen Vowels when the Eagles forfeited due to an injury.
Webb City’s Avery Brown and Taylor Smith edged Alex Carson and Gwenna Sweet 8-6 at No. 2 doubles, but Joplin’s Bonnie Smith and Zayda Derganc topped Averey Terry and Adeline Ragsdale 8-6 at No. 3 doubles.
Joplin beat Monett 5-0.
In singles, Watts defeated Lizzie Smith 8-5 and Driver beat Deleny Rueda 8-2.
In doubles, Joplin’s Jadyn Elder and Vowels edged Vayla Smith and Serenity Laning 8-6, while Carson and Sweet handled Jocelyn Hernandez and Emma Parrigon 8-1 and Smith and Derganc defeated Valery Moncivaiz and Jasmin Rueda 8-5.
In a clash between Eagles, and in a de facto championship dual, Grain Valley defeated Joplin 5-0.
In singles play, Finley LaForge defeated Watts 8-3 and Kylee Bragaw beat Driver due to injury forfeit.
In doubles, Brooklyn Spencer-Catherine Barnes defeated Elder-Vowels 8-0, while Ava Lin-Katherine Unrein topped Carson-Sweet 8-2 and Delaney Thurn-Ella Guyear beat Smith-Derganc 8-5.
Webb City went 1-2 at the event.
After the loss to Joplin, Webb City suffered a 5-0 setback to Grain Valley.
In singles, LaForge defeated Smith 8-0 and Bragaw beat McDonald 8-0.
Grain Valley won the doubles matches 8-1, 8-5 and 8-1.
The Cardinals beat Monett 4-1.
In singles, Monett’s Lizzie Smith defeated Kinzlea Smith 8-2, while McDonald defeated Deleny Rueda 9-7.
The Cardinals won all three doubles matches. Hollingsworth-Ansley defeated Smith-Laning 8-3, while Brown-Smith beat Hernandez-Parrigon 8-2 and Terry-Ragsdale topped Moncivaiz-Jasmin Rueda 8-1.
In the other dual, Grain Valley defeated Monett 5-0.
Astrid Cardenas could barely eat, let alone work on her tennis skills in the weeks leading up to the start of her senior year at Joplin High School.
A returning state-qualifier, Cardenas was unable to train for eight weeks this past summer after an unfortunate accident led to a necessary surgery and a lengthy recovery.
“I got hit in the face with a baseball and it broke my jaw in two places,” Cardenas explained. “The surgery was probably the toughest part. I barely ate because my mouth was wired shut. I wasn’t able to play tennis for two months. It was terrible. I wanted to play so bad. It was really rough.
“I knew my peers were out there playing tennis and I couldn’t be out there,” Cardenas continued. “I was stuck at home. Two months is a long time to not play or train. It’s my senior year and I wanted to do really well this year.”
Pictured are Joplin’s Emma Watts and Astrid Cardenas.
Cardenas wasn’t the only member of the JHS tennis team hampered by an early-season injury.
Emma Watts was plagued by back problems at the beginning of her junior season.
“It was a problem with my joints,” Watts said. “I had a whole bunch of pinched nerves in my lumbar area. It took me a lot of work to get back to where I could play again. It was very frustrating because I just wanted to start off the season healthy. I did physical therapy and I still do a lot of stretches and exercises.
“I’m close to 100 percent now,” Watts added. “I’ve been focused on getting healthy before districts and state. That’s what was driving me.”
With the team’s top two performers limited by those early-season difficulties, a successful fall campaign wasn’t exactly a given.
But with hard work and dedication, Cardenas and Watts have overcome their respective injuries and put together a stellar season.
The Joplin duo are set to make their second straight appearance at the MSHSAA Girls Tennis Championships.
Ahead of Thursday’s opening round of the state tennis tournament, Cardenas and Watts hold a record of 26-1 in doubles matches.
In a season to remember, the JHS pair captured the No. 1 doubles crown at the Central Ozark Conference tournament for a second straight season and placed second at the district tournament, suffering their lone loss of the fall to a Lee’s Summit West squad that is one of the favorites to win a state title.
Now, Cardenas and Watts are set to begin competition at the Class 3 state tournament on Thursday morning at the Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield.
“It’s my senior year and I really want to medal this year,” said Cardenas, who also qualified for state in singles as a sophomore. “Communication and teamwork are the keys to success for us. We have a really good dynamic. And it’s my last tournament ever, so I just want to have fun.”
The Eagles were the Joplin area’s top doubles team for the second straight season.
In 2020, Cardenas and Watts captured a COC championship at No. 1 doubles, took second place at the district tournament and then advanced to the consolation quarterfinals of the state tournament.
After last year’s trip to state, the Eagles are well aware of what to expect this time around.
“It was very exciting for us,” Watts said of competing at last year’s event. “I was just so excited to play doubles with my best friend and I was just excited to get that experience. It opened our eyes. This year, we really want to medal. We know what to expect this year. That’s going to be key for us.”
Last year’s experience left the Eagles wanting more, too.
“If they could finish the season on the medal stand that would be something the coaching staff and the girls would be really proud of,” Joplin coach Jeff Williams said. “It’s a possibility for them.”
In Thursday’s opening round, the Eagles will take on St. Joseph Academy’s Elizabeth Choate and Isabella Hong.
“The goal is to do better than last time,” JHS assistant coach Richard Perry said. “They want to be medalists, and with how they’ve been playing, I think that’s very achievable. They need to be ready for really tough competition. Class 3 is getting tougher every single year.”
Regardless of what happens on the court in Springfield, the Eagles will end the season alongside the state’s best.
That’s something the pair can feel good about, especially considering the early-season injuries both players were forced to overcome.
“Astrid and I have both worked really hard for this,” Watts said. “Now we want to make it as far as we can.”
Joplin senior Astrid Cardenas will be making her third straight trip to the state tennis tournament. After advancing in singles as a sophomore, Cardenas has teamed up with Emma Watts as a doubles teams the past two seasons. Photos by Israel Perez.
Emma Watts prepares to serve in a recent match at JHS. Watts, a junior, will be making a second straight state appearance in doubles with Astrid Cardenas.
