Thomas Jefferson and Carl Junction had state qualifiers at Friday’s Class 2 District 7 girls tennis tournament.
The top two singles players and the top two doubles teams advanced to the individual state tournament.
Thomas Jefferson’s Allison Ding was the runner-up in the singles bracket.
After a first-round bye as the No. 2 seed, Ding defeated Carl Junction’s Isabel Read 2-6, 6-2, 10-2 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Ding defeated Barstow’s Sofia Shkuta 2-6, 6-1, 10-8.
In the championship match, Notre Dame de Sioni’s Anna McGeeney edged Ding 7-6 (7-1), 6-4.
McGeeney beat Thomas Jefferson’s Jeanna Jeyaraj 7-5, 6-0 in the semifinals.
In addition to Jeyaraj and Read, other local singles players unable to advance were Webb City’s Bethany Brumit and Adeline Ragsdale and Carl Junction’s Brooklin Leggett.
Of note, Jeyaraj won the bracket’s third-place match over Shkuta.
Carl Junction’s duo of Naiyah Wurdeman and Jenna Besperat won the doubles bracket.
The Bulldogs defeated Webb City’s Ally Ansley-Ayla McDaniel 6-1, 6-1 in the quarterfinals and then topped Thomas Jefferson’s Kyla Yang-Esther Yang 6-1, 6-2 in the semifinals.
In the championship match, Wurdeman and Besperat defeated Willard’s Alyssa Flynn-Evelyn Sly 6-2, 6-0.
Thomas Jefferson’s Mayson Solum-Warda Morsy, Webb City’s Averey Terry-Maecy Beverlin and CJ’s Emiliy Rice-Brooke Jasperson also competed in the doubles bracket.
The team district tournament begins at 3:30 p.m. on Monday at Thomas Jefferson.
Fourth-seeded Willard meets fifth-seeded Barstow, second-seeded Carl Junction takes on seventh-seeded Webb City and third-seeded Notre Dame de Sion matches up with sixth-seeded Belton.
Top-seeded Thomas Jefferson (11-0) has a first-round bye and will meet the Willard-Barstow winner at 3:30 on Tuesday in the semifinals.
The other semifinal will also begin at 3:30 on Tuesday. The district title match is scheduled for 3:30 on Wednesday.
