After playing all their matches on the road this season, the Trenton High School girls tennis team will be on the road again Thursday. This time the Lady Bulldogs will be playing in the sectional tournament.
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After playing all their matches on the road this season, the Trenton High School girls tennis team will be on the road again Thursday. This time the Lady Bulldogs will be playing in the sectional tournament.
?It took three days, but it was worth it,? Head Coach Mike Bosley said. ?This is the first sectional qualifying team since 1994.?
The Class 2 District 7 Tournament at St. Joseph was delayed by rain, but when the weather finally broke THS had the district doubles champion, a fifth-place finish in singles and, most importantly, a second-place finish as a team.
Chillicothe took first place at the district with 30 points. Trenton finished with 23.5 points and St. Joseph LeBlond was third with 21.5 points.
Abby Lovell and Christina Woodard came into the district tournament as the number one seed. They battled their way through the bracket and finally beat Devon Doss and Anna Uhlitz in the championship match, 6-3 and 6-2. Lovell-Woodard currently have a record of 17-1.
?Abby and Chris had an outstanding tournament. In the semifinal match they played the first set pretty safe and lost 6-4,? Bosley said. ?They got their feet moving and played more aggressively and it was lights out in the last two sets, 6-0 and 6-0. It was unbelievable to win 12 games in a row against a good LeBlond duo.?
Lovell-Woodard finished their tournament at 4-0. The top two doubles teams, along with the top two singles winners, qualify for the state tournament in Springfield on Oct. 24-25.
Stephanie Gutshall-Sadie Jones lost their first two matches and made a quick exit. The duo opened against Doss-Uhlitz and lost, 1-6 and 1-6, then lost to Ashleigh Cox and Jinny Marker of Excelsior Springs, 8-9 (3-7).
In singles action, Kaycee Lee Blattner went 4-1 to finish in fifth place. Blattner was seeded fourth and after receiving a first-round bye won her first match over Maria Chavez of Brookfield, 5-3, Blattner played the Amy Patel of Chillicothe in the quarterfinals, losing, 4-6 and 0-6.
Blattner came back to win three straight matches. In the consolation championship she defeated Lauren Rusco of Maryville, 8-6.
?Kaycee Lee had a tough quarterfinal loss to Patel of Chillicothe,? Bosley said. ?I was proud of her determination in winning the next three consolation matches to place fifth. Two of her wins were against number one players from Excelsior Springs and Maryville.?
Kari Epperson opened her singles tournament against the second seed, Allison Conrad of Chillicothe, to whom she lost, 0-6 and 1-6. Epperson bounced back to beat Stephanie Bruning of Excelsior Springs, 8-6. Epperson then defeated Katie Penland of Lafayette, 8-6, before falling to Susan Eberly of Cameron.
?Kari, Sadie and Stephanie had tough draws,? Bosley said. ?They did a good job of competing and will get to play some more in the sectional tournament on Thursday.?
The Lady Bulldogs will play Pembroke Hill at 9 a.m. in Chillicothe. It will be a dual-style match with six singles matches and three doubles matches. Chillicothe will play Warrensburg. The winners will then play and only the first-place team moves on to the state tournament.
Varsity Results
Singles
Kaycee Lee Blattner, fourth seed – bye; defeated Maria Chavez of Brookfield, 5-3; default; lost to Amy Patel of Chillicothe, 2-6, 3-6; defeated Traci Fortune of Lafayette, 8-1; defeated Dana Harman of Excelsior Springs, 8-4; defeated Lauren Rusco of Maryville, 8-6. Fifth Place.
Kari Epperson – bye; lost to Allison Conrad of Chillicothe, 0-6, 1-6; defeated Stephanie Bruning of Excelsior Springs, 8-6; defeated Katie Penland of Lafayette, 8-5; lost to Susan Eberly of Cameron.
Doubles
Abby Lovell-Christina Woodard – bye; defeated Kaley McIntosh and Tamir Batchuluun of Cameron, 6-0, 6-2; defeated Candace Lindley-Katie Quinn of Chillicothe, 6-0, 6-1; defeated Tara Gorman and Mackenzie Milijavac of St. Joseph LeBlond, 6-1, 6-1; defeated Devon Doss-Anna Uhlitz of Chillicothe, 6-3, 6-2. First Place.
Sadie Jones-Stephanie Gutshall, bye; lost to Doss-Uhlitz of Chillicothe, 1-6, 1-6; lost to Ashleigh Cox and Jinny Marker of Excelsior Springs, 8-9 (3-7).