Park Hill’s girls tennis team had a productive week on the courts, highlighted by a rivalry triumph over Park Hill South and an impressive appearance at the St. Joseph Central Tournament.
Despite being largely inexperienced, Park Hill extended its winning streak over Park Hill South to seven matches. The Trojans defeated the Panthers 7-2 on Sept. 15, taking two of three doubles matches before taking five of six singles matches.
The doubles success came from Y’Quira Lacy and Anna Chambers at No. 2 doubles, defeating South’s Leighton Schmitt and Eva Keith 8-2. The Trojans also won the No. 3 doubles match as Brynn Wilkens and Laurel Barton defeated South’s Luci Taylor and Ella Sharp 8-3.
The top of Park Hill South’s lineup, led by freshman Finley Mitchell, gave Park Hill both of its defeats. Mitchell teamed up with Katja Jacimovic to win No. 1 doubles 8-3 over Park Hill’s tandem of Ireland Callagy and Chloe Falkenhain.
Mitchell also gave Park Hill South a win at No. 1 singles, defeating Callagy 8-3. The rest of Park Hill’s singles lineup triumphed to secure the Trojans’ first dual victory of the season.
The closest matches went to a tiebreak in No. 2 and No. 4 singles. Lacy defeated Jacimovic 8-7(7-0) at No. 2 singles, with Falkenhain defeating Keith 8-7(9-7) at No. 4 singles.
Ali Bray had Park Hill’s most decisive victory at No. 5 singles, defeating Taylor 8-1. Chambers also grabbed a convincing victory of 8-2 over Schmitt at No. 3 singles while Wilkens defeated Sharp 8-4.
Park Hill had a quick turnaround for the St. Joseph Central Invitational on Sept. 16, finishing tied with the host team as the tournament’s runner-up.
The Trojans’ top performance of the tournament came in the C flight, where Bray and Wilkens joined forces for a second-place finish. Chambers and Falkenhain finished fourth in B flight while Callagy and Lacy took fifth in A flight.
After hosting Oak Park on Sept. 21, Park Hill has two more home matches with Blue Springs South visiting on Sept. 23 and Platte County visiting on Sept. 28.