PITTSBURG — The Iola High School tennis team fought hard at the Pittsburg Invitational on Tuesday.
Also participating were Parsons, Chanute and Labette County, who placed in the top three, respectively, and Coffeyville and Pittsburg.
Mustang junior and team leader Keira Fawson went 2-1 in the meet after falling in her opener to Parsons’ Sydney Schibi, 8-3. Fawson won her next two sets against Pittsburg’s Andy McCabe, 8-3, and Labette County’s Aubrey Lassen, 8-0.
Rebekah Coltrane also competed in singles and finished 1-2, winning her final matchup against Coffeyville’s Natalie Scott, 8-0. Coltrane fell in her opening match with Parsons Bri Boucher, 8-0, before losing to Pittsburg’s Indiana Grotheer, 8-1.
“She played some very close matches, getting to deuce a lot,” Iola head coach Chris Belknap said.
The first doubles duo for Iola saw Genevive Ward and Kennedy Maier go winless at 0-3.
Ward and Maier dropped their first matchup to Parsons’ Jadyn Heck and Kamryn Keathy, 8-0. They then lost to Pittsburg’s Savannah Grotheer and Laikyan LeFever, 8-1 before falling in their final matchup with Coffeyville’s Lindsey Hayden and Emma Thompson, 8-4.
“They kept smiling the entire time and had a good time enjoying themselves,” said Belknap.
The second pair of IHS doubles were Molly Riebel and Melanie Palmer who went 1-2 in their matches.
The duo got shut out in their first two matches but came back for a hard-fought third match to knock off Coffeyville in a tie-breaker. The meet began for Riebel and Palmer falling to Parsons’ Brookelyn Barger and Ariel Adams, 8-0.
“They won in a hard earned tie-breaker. The duo M & M played very well yesterday,” Belknap said.
In the second match, Riebel and Palmer were shut out by Pittsburg’s Kali Terry and Jessie Lawson, 8-0. The pair won their final match over Coffeyville’s Sarah Turner and Evelyn Crafton in the tie-breaker, 8-7 (5).
Regional matchups are Saturday, Oct. 8.
