DRAFFENVILLE – Tennis season is underway for the Marshall County team with three matches already played against Paducah Tilghman, Christian County and McCracken County.
The season kicked off on March 15th against a Tilghman team that is consistently good every year. The Marshall boy’s and girl’s team were both shut out, but several singles and double matches were very competitive.
Nikki Fehrenbacher took 4 games from Molly Shannon who won 8-4 and the doubles team of Fehrenbacher and Elizabeth Padgett lost 8-6 to Shannon and Hannah Fischer.
“Paducah Tilghman is very strong once again this year”, Head Coach Tyler Brockman said. “I was very proud of the way our girls competed, and our top two girls, Elizabeth and Nikki, were both competitive in their matches. Our other girls are getting better every day and I’m looking forward to a great season.”
In singles, Padgett took two games from Emily West in her 8-2 loss and Abbey Harrington won one game in her 8-1 loss to Hannah Fisher. The doubles team of Sami Luecke and Courtney Phillips lost their match 8-1 to West and Criner.
In the boy’s matches, Kaleb Willie had a close match against Landon Ross, losing 8-6 and two of the Marshals doubles teams played very competitive matches. Charlie Reid and Tucker Lovett lost 8-6 to LaBuhn and Katz and the team of Hayden Jaco and Blake Sandlin lost to Ross and McGee 9-7.
Also winning games in their singles matches, Sandlin lost 8-1 to James McGee, Charlie Reid was defeated by Sam Kirchhoff 8-3 and Lovett lost 8-2 to Evan Jones.
“We only have one returning player from last year’s boy’s team so this was a great opportunity for our kids to get a taste of high school tennis for the first time”, Brockman said. “We were really close in three matches and it would have been great to get a few wins but our kids played hard and got better today. It will be fun to see them progress as the season continues and we get the chance to play more matches.”
On Friday at Christian County, the girl’s team won four of nine matches. Padgett rallied after losing her first game 6-2 to Barbora Sedlackova and won the next two games 6-4 and 10-6 for the win. Fehrenbacher won her match 8-2 over Ashley Welker and Luecke won 8-0 over Melina Phipps.
In doubles play, Padgett and Fehrenbacher defeated Welker and Phipps 8-0 and Kelsey Myers and Allie Fiske won 8-2 over Hogan and McGee.
Coach Brockman was happy with his girls’ play and especially proud of Padgett’s hard-fought match against their #1 player.
The boy’s team blanked Christian County, winning all nine of their matches. Coach Brockman was happy for his team, saying they have been working hard in practice and it showed in their results.
“Hopefully this will help boost our confidence and we will continue to see improved results throughout the season”, Brockman said.
Boy’s singles results: Alex Champman W 6-1, 6-1, Jaco W 8-0, Willie W 8-0, Sandlin W 8-0, Reid W 8-0, Bryce DeGolia W 8-0. Double’s results: Chapman/Jaco W 6-0, 6-0, Willie/Sandlin W 8-0, Reid/Jason Hall W 8-3
Tuesday in their first home match, the team faced McCracken County, one of the best team’s in the state. McCracken’s girls won the match 9-0 but two Marshall doubles teams won games in their matches. Padgett andFehrenbacher took four games in their loss to Emily Dew and ErinByassee and the doubles team of Harrington and B.J. Waggoner lost 8-1 to Jessica Stephens and AllisonHane.
Coach Brockman was pleased with the play of the doubles team of Padgett and Fehrenbacher and feels they have a chance to be very successful this season.
McCracken’s boys won 8-1, with the Marshals getting a win by default in Reid’s 5-5 match against Sayer Smith. Lovett had a competitive match against Jordan Windhorst losing 8-4. All three doubles teams avoided shutouts with the teams of Willie/Sandlin and Reid/Lovett both losing 8-2 and Chapman/Jaco taking one game in their doubles match.
Coach Brockman was proud of the play of Reid and Lovett and said his team will learn from this match and keep moving forward as a team.
CLICK HERE for the Tennis Team schedule.