The Parry McCluer High School girls tennis team earned a 6-3 road win over local rival Rockbridge County in their first of two showdowns on Monday of last week at the Lexington Country Club courts.
The Fighting Blues went on to pick up a 7-2 road win over Pioneer District rival Bath County the next day, improving to 6-3 overall and 2-1 in the district. With two 9-0 Valley District losses, the Wildcats fell to 0-11 overall and 0-10 in the district.
Against the Wildcats, PM set the tone by winning two of three doubles matches. The closest contest of the day was at No. 2 doubles, where PM’s Olive King and Macy Shafer overcame RC’s Eleanor Goodhart and Ava Crocker 9-7.
Praising her No. 2 doubles team, PM head coach Alyssa Sewell said, “We were a little slow to start, but we were able to pull through. We were able to buckle down and get our shots in and hit good returns.”
The Blues won at the top four singles spots, with King coasting to an 8-1 win at No. 1, Macy Shafer edging Julia Newhall 8-6 at No. 2, and Peira Conner and Keely Mahaffey earning 8-1 victories at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively. RC’s singles winners were Campbell Bond with an 8-3 win at No. 5 and Diya Gandhi with an 8-2 victory at No. 6.
Before the match, the Wildcats honored their four seniors: Bond, Newhall, Eleanor Goodhart and Keely Newman.
Facing last year’s Pioneer District regular-season champion Bath County (3-4 overall, 0-2 district) on Tuesday of last week in Hot Springs, the Blues won 7-2. PM swept the doubles matches and won four of six singles contests.
RC remained winless, losing 9-0 at Valley District rival East Rockingham (9-5, 7-3) on Thursday and falling 9-0 at home against Harrisonburg (10-4, 8-2) on Friday. The Wildcats were missing two starters in those matches.
The Blues were scheduled to play host to Bath County on Monday. Today, Wednesday, the Wildcats will play host to district rival Rocktown for their final home match, starting at 4:30 p.m.
RC and PM will meet again on Friday at 5 p.m., with the Blues playing host at the Southern Virginia University courts in the final regular-season match for both teams. Before the match, the Blues will honor their four seniors: Conner, King, Shafer and Valentine De Sousa E. Cantero.
PM 6, RC 3
SINGLES – Olive King (PM) d. Corinna Allen (RC) 8-1; Macy Shafer (PM) d. Julia Newhall (RC) 8-6; Peira Conner (PM) d. Eleanor Goodhart (RC) 8-1; Keely Mahaffey (PM) d. Ava Crocker (RC) 8-1; Campbell Bond (RC) d. Elizabeth Truslow (PM) 8-3; Diya Gandhi (RC) d. Peyton Chittum (PM) 8-2.
DOUBLES – Conner and Mahaffey (PM) d. Allen and Newhall (RC) 8-0; King and Shafer (PM) d. Goodhart and Crocker (RC) 9-7; Bond and Gandhi (RC) d. Truslow and Chittum (PM) 8-2.
PM 7, BC 2
SINGLES – King (PM) d. Brooke Hess (BC) 8-0; Shafer (PM) d. Alyssa De-Poppe (BC) 8-2; Conner (PM) d. Sophie Ailstock (BC) 8-1; Mahaffey (PM) d. Adrianna Miller (BC) 8-0; Chloe Fewell (BC) d. Truslow (PM) 8-2; Chittum (PM) d. Lilly Moyers (BC) 9-8 (14-12 tiebreak).
DOUBLES – Conner and Mahaffey (PM) d. Hess and DePoppe (BC) 8-2; King and Shafer (PM) d. Ailstock and Miller (BC) 8-0; Truslow and Chittum (PM) d. Moyers and Fewell (BC) 9-7.
ER 9, RC 0
SINGLES – Alliyah Mc-Nair (ER) d. Julia Newhall (RC) 8-3; Kaylee Hatton (ER) d. Goodhart (RC) 8-0; Nora Fox (ER) d. Crocker (RC) 8-0; Trinity Gray (ER) d. Gandhi (ER) 8-1; Regan Sipe (ER) d. Presley Brzostek (RC) 8-0; Eva Witter (ER) d. Jade Newhall (RC) 8-0.
DOUBLES – McNair and Hatton (ER) d. Goodhart and Julia Newhall (RC) 8-1; Fox and Gray (ER) d. Crocker and Brzostek (RC) 8-1; Reagan Miller and Lilly Campbell (ER) d. Brzostek and Keely Newman (RC) 8-1.
HHS 9, RC 0
SINGLES – Veronica Gutierrez (H) d. Goodhart (RC) 8-1; Evelyn Lewis (H) d. Crocker (RC) 8-0; Sequoia Hall (H) d. Bond (RC) 8-2; Nora Van Rotz (H) d. Gandhi (RC) 8-1; Phoenix Seidel (H) d. Brzostek (RC) 8-0; Annie Snow (H) d. Jade Newhall (RC) 8-1.
DOUBLES – Gutierrez and Van Rotz (H) d. Goodhart and Crocker (RC) 8-1; Lewis and Brynn Smith (H) d. Goodhart and Crocker (RC) 8-1; Lewis and Brynn Smith (G) d. Bond and Gandhi (RC) 8-2; Avery Holt and Finnly Miller (H) d. Brzostek and Jade Newhall (RC) 8-1.
