Waynesville Tiger Tennis got their first win of the season tonight in an 8-1 finish over Richland.  The girls looked great tonight. In the first two matches of the season, we were a little timid on court. With many girls new to the game, it took us a couple matches to get into the swing of things and to feel comfortable playing on court without an official. Tonight, they came out swinging and took control from the beginning. 

Playing doubles first, our #1 doubles team, Heather Emerson and Lauren DeMalade, worked their way to a quick finish at 8-2.  The last two doubles teams played close matches, but both teams pulled their own ending with a Waynesville win.  Leading 3-0 going into singles, Waynesville only needed two more wins to solidify a team victory. 

At #1, Heather Emerson played the best match I’ve seen her play in four years. Faced against a tough Kiley Cargill, Heather played with patience and consistency and took a close 9-7 victory.  We knew from the start this would be a good, close match.  Heather had lost to Cargill last year at #4. Cargill is a great athlete and competitor.  We knew we would need to play aggressively to take this match.  I was proud of Heather tonight. She’s come so far since Freshman year. She has developed great ball control and has become a very smart player, and I was thankful to watch her take this victory tonight. Alexuz Pesantemercado also had a close match tonight. Playing JV last year, Alexuz is stepping into a more aggressive position on this team. Alexuz is so friendly and always has a smile on her face, but she also has learned to play with great aggression on court.  She pulled out a win in a close 8-6 match.  Our only loss tonight came on court 4 as we had to call a Forfeit due to illness. 

The Tigers will be at it again on Tuesday night in Osage to kick off a very busy week.  Waynesville will play at home as they take on Smith-Cotton Wednesday and Camdenton and West Plains Thursday.  

Singles

Heather Emerson vs. Kiley Cargill, 9-7

Lauren DeMalade vs. Kelsey Bunnell, 8-2

Kristen Sneed vs. Hannah Black, 8-4

Blaire Smith vs. Abby Latham, FF

Vashti Hernandez vs. Mikenna Ely, 8-1

Alexuz Pesantemercado vs. Mackenzie Hodges, 8-6

Doubles

Emerson/DeMalade vs. Cargill/Bunnell, 8-2

Sneed/Smith vs. Black/Latham,  8-5

Hernandez/Pesantemercado vs. Ely/Paige Verscha, 8-6