As good as the Republic boys tennis team has been over the past few seasons, it keeps coming up with something better. Monday night, the Tigers reached new heights, beating Carl Junction 9-0 to complete the program’s first-ever undefeated Central Ozark Conference regular season.
“We’re really excited. A couple of years ago, we had a tough loss against Branson when we were missing a few guys, so go to through a conference without losing is pretty special,” says coach Dan Vales.
Monday, Hunter Creek helped secure the shutout with a win in his singles match after a tough start. He won a tiebreaker 7-4 to defeat Collin King 9-8.
Logan Elder and Austin Massey also achieved milestones in the #5 and #6 singles slots. Both of them completed 15-0 regular seasons.
The junior varsity team won 15-1, as well. That completed the first-ever undefeated season for Republic’s JV. They’re 10-0 (and won both tournaments they played).
The varsity team’s record is now 14-1.
The Tigers compete next in the COC tournament Wednesday at Cooper Tennis Complex. Play will start around 9:00 am. Vales likes the way his team is setting up heading into the most important part of the season.
“There’s nine different levels, counting singles and doubles. For the most part, I think we’re peaking,” he says. “There are a couple of tweaks we want to make tomorrow in practice, but for the most part, I feel like we’re … ready to roll for Wednesday.”
Republic vs Carl Junction Scores
Doubles
1. Mackey/Creek d. Wolf/Kunce 8-4
2. Jordan/Carpenter d. King/Merrithew 8-4
3. Elder/Massey d. Fox/Carpenter 8-1
Singles
1. Dylan Mackey d. Joe Wolf 8-0
2. Hunter Creek d. Collin King 9-8 (7-4)
3. Isaac Jordan d. Riley Kunce 8-0
4. Brett Carpenter d. Mason Fox 8-5
5. Logan Elder d. Jack Merrithew 8-2
6. Austin Massey d. Samuel Hook 8-0