Evie Ward of Platte City made history for the St. Pius X High School girls tennis team on Oct. 23.
Ward became the school’s highest-finishing girls tennis player with a fourth-place medal at the 52nd MSHSAA Girls Tennis Championships, held Oct. 22-23 at Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield. She earned the medal in Class 2 singles.
“It means a lot,” Ward said. “It is a symbol of my hard work and how much I have put into tennis.”
The junior returned to the state’s biggest stage in high school girls tennis for a second straight year. She previously qualified for last year’s state tournament as a district runner-up to teammate Kiera Dunn.
Platte City’s Evie Ward won a fourth-place medal at the MSHSAA Class 2 Singles Championships, the highest finish in St. Pius X High School history.
Ward won her opening two rounds of the tournament on Oct. 22, shutting out Warrensburg’s Leyla Ali in the opening round 6-0, 6-0. She secured a top-four medal with a quarterfinal victory over Nerinx Hall’s Peyton Neidenbach 6-3, 6-1.
Ward’s winning run concluded in the semifinal round, when she fell 6-0, 6-0 to Parkway West’s Shree Nidhi Sikkal Kumar. She took home a fourth-place medal after losing her third-round match to Camdenton’s Kaylee Doran.
“It is a huge accomplishment and it feels very special raising the bar,” Ward said. “I hope my achievement serves to encourage future St. Pius X tennis players.”
The path to State went through Class 2 District 8, which she won Oct. 9 on her home court at the SPX Athletic Complex. The triumph at districts extended her winning streak to 23 straight matches after going a perfect 20-0 in the regular season.
Among the greatest tests Ward faced came against Platte County senior Ellie Kaser. Ward won their regular-season match 8-5 on Sept. 23 and won the first set of their team district championship matchup 6-3 on Oct. 14, but the remainder of the singles match was left undecided after Platte County clinched the title.
“I had to process my emotions while playing against an extremely consistent player,” Ward said. “It was a great match and Ellie is a terrific player.”
St. Pius X’s doubles tandem of Avery Smith and Sydney Mitchell also placed fourth at State.
After losing the first set in their first two rounds, they came back to win both rounds in the super tiebreak and took fourth after losing their semifinal and third-place matches.
After writing her name into the Warriors’ history books, Ward is ready to continue leading by example. She hopes her teammates will follow her lead by continuing to work hard over the high school offseason.
“I would like to improve my performance in more UTSA tournaments and set an example for my teammates and inspire them to be the best they can be,” Ward said. “In preparation for next season, I’m encouraging my teammates to practice consistently and to challenge themselves.”