The Republic girls tennis team has split a pair of matches so far this week, defeating Neosho 7-2 on the road before falling at Ozark in the continuation of a postponed match.
Against Neosho on October 1, Republic dominated doubles play. The teams of Mati Carpenter/Ella Lashley, Payton Schroeder/Paelyn Kaufmann, and Brooklyn Douglas/Aubree Tinsley all won their matches.
In singles, Carpenter, Lashley, Schroeder, and Abigail Bremer picked up wins for Republic.
The Lady Tigers then traveled to Ozark to complete a match that had been rained out earlier in the season. Republic entered singles play trailing 0-3 after doubles matches from previous play. Republic split the singles matches 3-3, despite starting the day in the hole.
Carpenter won 8-6, Lashley 8-5, and Kaufmann pulled out a 9-7 victory.
“Mati and Ella both had good wins over good players,” coach David Smashey said. “It’s nice to see them playing so well headed into our post-season. They’re our best and most experienced players and we’re really going to lean on their leadership over the next couple weeks.”
Smashey also praised freshman Kaufmann’s performance against Ozark.
“Paelyn played her best match of the year. She came from behind to beat a really good Ozark senior,” Smashey said. “There were times the Ozark player (Shelby Middleton) was hitting a lot of big, unreturnable shots, but Paelyn kept her composure and just kept on playing her game. At the end, Paelyn was more disciplined…and won all the big points. I think her calmness and poise in pressure situations means she’s going to win a lot of big matches for our team over the next three years.”
Republic closes out the regular season with a home match against Branson tonight.