With a little extra motivation, and with a slightly different lineup, the Joplin High School girls tennis team earned a 7-2 win over the Ozark Tigers on Tuesday at the JHS athletic complex.
“Today the girls were playing really well in doubles,” Joplin assistant coach Richard Perry said. “We set up some new pairs we haven’t tried in a match before and it really seemed to work. The girls reacted positively to the changes and it reflected in the score. This was a good win for us because we lost to them early in the season when we had barely any of our varsity players playing, so we wanted to prove how good we really are. Now the ladies need to get ready for one of our toughest matches this Thursday.”
The Eagles, who avenged an Aug. 27 setback to the Tigers, won all three doubles matches to start the dual off on a positive note.
At No. 1 doubles, Joplin’s Astrid Cardenas and Emma Watts beat Hannah Metcalf and Loren Newell 8-1. The No. 2 doubles team of Abry Stayton and Mya Ndedi-Ntepe defeated Makenna Whitfield-Isabella Montileone 8-2, while Cloey Blank and Brynn Driver handled Madison Morgan-Margaret Kensinger 8-2 at No. 3 doubles.
Cardenas defeated Metcalf 8-1 at No. 1 singles, while Watts beat Whitfield 8-3 at No. 2 singles.
Stayton won the No. 3 singles match 8-2 over Newell.
Ozark’s Morgan defeated Ndedi-Ntepe 8-3 at No. 4 singles and Kensinger beat Blank 8-2 at No. 5 singles.
Joplin’s Driver pulled out an 8-6 win over Montileone at No. 6 singles.
Joplin hosts Republic at 4 p.m. on Thursday.
