Parry McCluer High School senior girls tennis player Olive King concluded her high school career in the Region 1C singles tournament on Monday of last week. The next day, senior Peira Conner and sophomore Keely Mahaffey wrapped up their season in the Region 1C doubles tourney. All three Blues lost in the quarterfinals, with the tournaments taking place at George Wythe High School in Wytheville.
King lost to Fort Chiswell’s Taylor Shrewsbury 6-4, 6-4 in a match that lasted about two-and-a-half hours. Shrewsbury went on to win the regional singles title.
PM head coach Alyssa Sewell said the match between King and Shrewsbury “was unbelievable.” The third-year PM coach said King “fought so hard but ultimately lost in the end. The two girls were very evenly matched and played almost exactly the same. I told Olive it was like looking in a mirror! Very proud of the growth I’ve seen from her.”
On her way to the regional tournament, King won the Pioneer District title.
Conner and Mahaffey, the runner- up team in the Pioneer District doubles tournament, lost to Fort Chiswell’s top duo 6-2, 6-2 in the regional quarterfinals. The Fort pair would lose to the top duo from GW in the semifinals, and the GW pair would go on to win the regional title.
Sewell said Conner and Mahaffey “had a tough battle. They were fighters from the start to the finish. Although the score might not show it, they were extremely close with many games going to deuce. However, we couldn’t close it out. I’m so happy to see the team chemistry and fun they had on the court.”
As a team, the Fighting Blues finished 7-4 overall and 3-1 in the Pioneer District, defeating Narrows for the district title. The Blues ended the team portion of their season with a 5-3 home loss to Bland County in the Region 1C quarterfinals on May 28.
Last year, the Blues went 9-5 overall and 4-2 in the district, finishing second to Bath County in the district and ending their season with a 5-2 loss to Grayson County in the Region 1C quarterfinals.
While the Blues look forward to returning Mahaffey, junior Peyton Chittum and sophomore Elizabeth Truslow from their top six, they will miss their three seniors: Conner, King and Macy Shafer. King played at No. 1 singles, Shafer was PM’s No. 2 and Conner played at No. 3.
While at PM, King was an all-state swimmer. She’ll continue her academic and swimming career at Division III school Southern Virginia University in Buena Vista. Conner was an all-district volleyball player and also played basketball.
Commenting on her seniors, Sewell said, “I will miss these girls so much as they graduate and move on. They have been nothing but pure joy to be around and I’m so grateful I had the opportunity to be their coach.”
