The Iola tennis team headed south on Thursday to face a loaded field in Pittsburg and walked away with a fourth-place finish out of eight teams. Three out of the four Iola entries finished in the top four including two third-place finishes.
The number one doubles team of Carlie Payne and Gabby Richards finished third with a 3-1 record.
Payne and Richards opened things up with an 8-2 win over St. Marys-Colgan and an 8-4 win over Bishop Miege. They lost 8-1 to Labette but rebounded with an 8-4 win over Fort Scott.
Number one singles player Allie Utley also finished third with a 3-1 record.
Utley opened with an 8-3 win over Colgans Marcy Brown before falling to Bishop Mieges Chloe Holmer. Utley blanked Labettes Aubri Stewart 8-0 and grabbed a hard-fought 8-6 win over Patience Richwine from Fort Scott to secure third.
Jennifer Tidd finished fourth in the number two singles spot with a 2-2 record.
Tidd beat Colgans Emma Fischer 8-1 before losing 8-0 to Bishop Mieges Claire Lang. She went on to beat Labettes Layla Bradfield 8-4 before falling 8-5 to Lamars Alsira Juarez.
Number two doubles team Kassy and Sidney Shelby closed things out for Iola with a seventh-place finish and a 1-3 record.
The Shelbys lost 8-1 to both Colgan and Bishop Miege and 8-3 to Labette before salvaging an 8-3 win over Columbus.
The Fillies will head to Pittsburg one more time on Tuesday for their final varsity match before traveling to regionals in Independence on Oct. 6.
