BRANSON, Mo. — Joplin’s boys tennis team suffered a 9-0 loss at Branson on Thursday.
“Branson has a large team with a lot of depth,” Joplin coach Aaron Stump said.
In No. 1 doubles play, Joplin’s Logan Merkley and Jeffrey Evenson suffered an 8-3 loss to Gavin Brown and Nathan Bartram.
At No. 2 doubles, Ben Wardlow and Colin Vermillion lost 8-4 to William Stark and Caleb Buxton.
“Ben and Colin won three straight games early in the match, but their opponents made some adjustments and were able to regain the lead,” Stump commented.
Josh Yarnall and Michael Mancipe fell 8-1 to Garrett Beckham and Wyatt Carlson.
The Pirates also won all six singles matches.
At No. 1, Brown defeated Merkley 8-0.
Joplin’s Evenson lost 8-1 to Bartram.
“Jeffrey was landing some strong serves, but his opponent did a nice job returning them to win the match,” Stump noted.
Branson’s Stark beat Wardlow 8-4, while Beckham defeated Mancipe 8-0, Buxton topped Vermillion 8-0 and Jacob Decker defeated Hunter Merkley 8-0.
“Michael, Colin, and Hunter all had to play up a rank in singles,” Stump said. “We decided to rest Josh Yarnall as a precautionary measure due to soreness in his hand.”
Joplin will be among the teams competing at Friday’s Thomas Jefferson Invitational.
Neosho suffers loss at Willard
WILLARD, Mo. — The Neosho Wildcats suffered a 9-0 setback at Willard on Thursday.
In singles, Caden Lingenfelser defeated Kuhio Sohl 8-0, Alex Crawford beat Landon Austin 8-1, Luke Christensen topped Christian Williams 8-2, Brayden Roth beat Melvin Lopez 8-1, Austin Long defeated Brandt Gonzales 8-2 and Seth Miller got past Ryno Lee 8-2.
In doubles, Neosho’s Sohl-Williams lost to Lingenfelser-Crawford 8-0, while Austin-Lopez fell to Christensen-Roth 8-1 and Gonzales-Lee lost to Long-Miller 8-3.
