Nevada High School Girls Tennis Team ends season with strong showing at District Tournament

The Nevada High School Girls Tennis team wrapped up its season with an impressive display of determination and improvement in the Class 1 District 11 Team Tournament on Monday, Oct. 2, at Lamar High School. While facing off against a formidable Lamar team for the second time in five days, the Nevada squad showed significant progress compared to their previous encounter.

In the first round of the District 11 Team Tennis Tournament, Nevada faced Lamar once again, but this time, the outcome was different. Last Thursday, during their regular-season match, Nevada struggled and won only seven games as a team. However, their performance last night was notably improved, winning a total of twenty games against the strong Lamar team.

Despite their commendable efforts, Nevada ultimately succumbed to Lamar with a final score of 0-5, ending their journey in the district tournament. Lamar will now advance to the district finals, where they will face the winner of the Bolivar-Clinton match.

The individual match results for Nevada were as follows:

Doubles

• Preslee Bower & Allie McCaffree lost to Alyssa Mitchell & Chelsey O’Sullivan, 2-8.

• Mia Fulton & Molly Russell lost to Elliana Griffith & Brenna Morey, 2-8.

• Braelyn Harth & Lailee Chadd lost to Chloe Vaughan and Emma Forst, 2-8.

Singles

• Preslee Bower lost to Alyssa Mitchell, 1-6, 0-6.

• Molly Russell lost to Emma Forst, 0-6, 0-6.

• Mia Fulton had pulled close to even with her opponent, Chelsey O’Sullivan, 2-6, 5-4, when play was called for the night.

• Allie McCaffree was also leading her match against Elliana Griffith, 6-4, 0-2, when play was called due to Lamar having secured the required five matches to advance.

Coach Tom Rea praised the team's performance, saying, "It was great to end our season with such strong play from the whole team against a Lamar team that really gave us fits last week." He noted that the team faced challenges, including the absence of their #1 singles player, Hennessy Brown, who was recovering from an injury. Brown, the District singles champion, is hopeful for a successful return in time for her Sectional match this Friday in Bolivar.

Rea also expressed pride in his team's resilience and improvement throughout the season, despite dealing with changes in doubles teams due to illness and injury. He added, "They took it all in stride and finished strong."

For fans of Nevada High School tennis, the focus now shifts to the upcoming Sectional Tournament, where Hennessy Brown will compete this Friday at 4 p.m. at Bolivar High School against Morgan Hilbrich of St. Michael the Archangel. It promises to be an exciting battle as Nevada's top player seeks to continue her successful season.