PARSONS — Iola High’s junior varsity tennis squad continues to get valuable experience and show improvement on the court, head coach Jennifer Bycroft said.
Singles players Chyanne Vaughn and Khrystal Smith both went 1-2 on the day, while doubles teams of Allyson Hobbs and Kelsey Hale and Baleigh Seiber and Shana Moore went 0-3.
Vaughn, no. 1 singles player, defeated Jordan Shreppel of Labette County, 6-3, and fell to Abi Felter of Fort Scott, 6-0, and Abbie Ford of Parsons, 6-5. Vaughn overcame a five-point deficit to Ford before finally succumbing in a 7-4 tiebreaker.
“Chyanne has been doing well in the singles spot,” Bycroft said. “She places the ball well and really moves her opponent. Forcing the tiebreaker says a lot at how hard she had to work to get there.”
Smith also went 1-2.
She fell to Selena Perez of Labette County, 6-3, before defeating Breanna Leslie of Fort Scott, 6-4. Smith dropped a 6-4 decision to Alea Blackburn of Labette County.
“This was Khrystal’s first time playing singles,” Byrcoft said. “She handled it well and really showed a lot of hustle out there, never giving up on a ball. She has improved quite a bit since last season.”
Hobbs and Hale fell to Cicero and Benedict of Pittsburg and Cunningham and Adams of Fort Scott by identical scores of 6-0. They fell to Franklin and Brodericks of Neodesha, 6-1.
“I paired Allyson and Kelsey because I knew they would work well together,” Bycroft said. “This is Kelsey’s first time playing tennis competitively. Even though the scores don’t indicate this, by even the second match I saw improvement and things were starting to flow a little easier. Allyson showed a lot of hustle, and Kelsey had a few good winners at the net.”
The score also didn’t indicate the competitiveness shown by Seeber and Moore, Bycroft said.
The duo fell to Perez and Albertson of Labette County, 6-1, to Natt and Gandhi of Parsons, 6-1, and to Williams and Diaz of Fort Scott, 6-3.
“I was pleased, especially with the last match these girls played,” Bycroft said. “Baleigh has played a lot before, so I was counting on her to help Shana. This is Shana’s first time ever playing, and there’s definitely a lot to learn, but she was moving better by the third match, and was getting some serves in, too. Baleigh always gives 100 percent on the court.”
Fillies JV tennis team competes in Parsons
