Tennis team heads to district after victory
by Mark Cheffey
The PHS girls tennis team went into district’s this week after suffering only their second duel loss of the season, 5-4, to Hannibal at home Thursday.
Winning singles matches were Maura Gottman, 8-4, and Jaynee Durst, 8-0. Reese Gottman lost 9-8 after a 7-4 tiebreaker.
Winning doubles matches were Katy Rindom and Maura Gottman, 8-2, and Durst and Rylee Ingram, 8-4.
The Lady Panthers finished the regular season with an 8-2-1 record, and go into this week’s team district tournament in Mexico with the top seed.
“We have played and beat all the teams in our district except for Fulton, so the girls are going into districts with quite a bit of confidence,” said Coach Jessica Gottman. “I hope we show up and play as well as I know we can. I also hope the girls are able to stay healthy in these last few weeks.”
The Lady Panthers earned a first-round bye and were to play at 4 p.m. Wednesday against the winner of Tuesday’s match between fourth-seeded Father Tolton and Fulton.
The winner advances to the district title match at 4 p.m. Thursday against the winner of Wednesday’s semifinal between second-seeded Moberly and seventh-seeded Mexico.
In JV action Thursday, Palmyra lost 4-3 to complete the season with a 4-2-1 record.
Winning doubles matches were Abbey Mann and Ava Browning, 6-3; and Elizabeth Salo and Jaymee Price-Brocksmith, 6-4. Tessa Richmond won a singles match, 6-0.
The Lady Panthers opened the week with an 8-1 win at home over Kirksville Monday.
Winning singles matches were Rindom, 8-0; Maura Gottman, 8-6; Durst, 8-1; Reese Gottman, 8-2; and Ingram, 8-1.
Winning doubles matches were Rindom and Maura Gottman, 8-4; Durst and Ingram, 8-1; and Bella Perkins and Reese Gottman, 8-3.
The JV squad split six doubles matches. Winning were Blaize Bross and Brooke Sullivan, 6-2; Tessa Richmond and Taylor Stratton, 6-1; and Hadlie Kroeger and Taytum White, 7-5.
The JV team also tied for second at a tournament in Mexico Friday.
Palmyra scored 13 points to tie Boonville, one point behind Mexico and three ahead of Moberly.
The No. 2 doubles team of Richmond, Ashley Bode and Stratton and the No. 5 doubles pair of Maggie Keim and White took first place.
