JOPLIN - With Joplin and Carthage tied 4-4 in the Class 2 District 11 girls team tennis semifinal match, it came down to the No. 6 singles match.
The Joplin's Annabelle Erisman and Carthage's
Bailey Rodebush battled for two long sets that included several points with extended rallies.
And the 10th game of the second set was tied at deuce when Erisman won the final point in no-ad scoring to complete a 7-5, 6-4 victory and give Joplin a 5-4 team victory on Tuesday at the JHS courts.
"I think you'd rather be close than get whooped," Carthage coach
Mark Lingenfelter said. "And most of the time when they play off these district matches, it's usually 5-0. So it's nice to be competitive."
The nail-biting match saw only two players — Joplin's Krusha Bhakta and Carthage's
Darcy Teel — win both their singles and doubles matches.
Carthage owned a 2-1 lead after doubles after
Lily Smith-
Mariah Copeland prevailed 8-4 at No. 1 and Teel and
Hadley Hicklin won 9-7 at No. 2. Joplin took the No. 3 match as Bhakta and Savana Smith won 8-5.
"I think doubles is something we're stronger with just because of our constraints with court space," Lingenfelter said. "So we end up playing a lot more doubles than we do anything else, and we try to prepare our girls to not be scared at the net, to enjoy the net and learn to love the net because that's the easiest place to win points."
Joplin notched the first three points in singles with straight-set victories by Ashley Butler at No. 1, Astrid Cardenas at No. 2 and Bhakta at No. 5.
Carthage, however, pulled even at 4-4 thanks to a pair of come-from-behind, three-set victories — Teel 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 over Phoebe Watson at No. 3 and
Malory Moore 4-6, 6-1, 6-0 over Smith at No. 5.
Full Scoring
Doubles
#1
Lily Smith and
Mariah Copeland def. Ashely Butler & Astrid Cardenas 8-4
#2
Darcy Teel and
Hadley Hicklin def. Pheobe Watson & Ashley Kurtz
#3
Malory Moore &
Bailey Rodebush lost to Ashely Kurtz & Krusha Bhakta
Singles
#1
Lily Smith lost to Ashley Butler 1-6, 2-6
#2
Mariah Copeland lost to Astrid Cardenas 2-6, 1-6
#3
Darcy Teel def. Pheobe Watson 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
#4
Hadley Hicklin lost to Krusha Bhakta 2-6, 1-6
#5
Malory Moore def. Ashley Kurtz 4-6, 6-1, 6-0
#6
Bailey Rodebush lost to Annabelle Erisman 5-7, 5-7
