Spirited competition littered with close matches

COFFEYVILLE — Iola High’s tennis team wrapped up 2013 regular season play Tuesday with a series of matches at Coffeyville.
Leading the way for the Fillies was No. 1 singles player Megan Smith, who went 2-2 on the afternoon, and narrowly missed a third win.
Smith defeated Chelsie Burroughs of Coffeyville, 8-2, and Abbie Ford of Parsons, 8-4, before dropping a heartbreaking 8-7 loss to Chelsey McQuarie of Pittsburg; the tiebreaker fell in McQuarie’s favor, 9-7. Smith ended the day with an 8-0 loss to Chanute’s Abby Liudahl.
“Megan has improved so much these last few matches,” Iola head coach Jenn Bycroft said. “She is really hitting the ball a lot harder, and has some great placement on her shots, moving her opponent well. She’s playing smart tennis.
“I was bummed for her that the tiebreak didn’t go her way, but I was very proud of her performance.”
Iola’s doubles teams of Alexis Hobbs and Bobbi Sinclair and Shelby Reno and Allyson Hobbs practically mirrored each other on the court.
Both went 1-3, dropping two matches that could have gone either way.
Alexis Hobbs and Sinclair, in the No. 1 doubles slot, defeated Nolan and Neal of Coffeyville, 8-0, before falling by identical 8-6 scores to Stephens and Gandhi of Parsons and Benedict and Cicero of Pittsburg. They fell to Wendt and Thuston of Chanute, 8-1.
Reno and Allyson Hobbs, in No. 2 doubles, defeated Baur and Carr of Coffeyville, 8-0, before dropping an 8-7 tiebreaker (6-4) to Natt and Folk of Parsons, and an 8-5 decision to Lundberg and Felter of Pittsburg. The duo dropped an 8-0 decision to Angleton and Bearrick of Chanute.
“The scores with our doubles teams were just so close,” Bycroft said. “It’s hard when we have the lead early, and the score ends up at 6-8. We’ve got to stay mentally tough all the way to the last point. The girls had some nice volleys and great cross-court winners.”
Katie Lieurance went 1-3 in No. 2 singles action, falling to Emily Gatewood of Parsons, 8-5, and by 8-1 scores to Trina Paul of Pittsburg and Shelby Stair of Chanute. Lieurance was the winner by default when Coffeyville was unable to field a second singles player.