Republic lost its home match against Bolivar on Senior Night, but the tennis seniors recognized before play began have done a lot more winning than losing over the years.
“We had a Final Four, we had an undefeated COC championship, and this senior class was right in the middle of all that. They’re also really solid people, great students, and they’ve been fun to be around,” head coach David Smashey said. “It seems like they’ve been around forever. It’s going to be really hard to play a tennis season without them.”
Republic honored seniors Libby Daniel, Jasmine Howard, Taylor Massey, Anna Stulce, Emma Tatum, Kylie Vance, and Izzy Wells. Not only are they the first senior class for Smashey in his first season as a head coach, but their arrival at Republic High School also coincided with his arrival as an assistant coach.
“They’re my first freshman class when I became an assistant coach, so they’ve really defined my experience here in a lot of ways,” he said. “This has been a year with a lot of challenges, but they’ve really met them with good spirit and camaraderie, and they’ve just been really fun and great to coach.”