By Staff

Central & Catholic finish fourth at girls team state tennis tournament

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By Don Eskins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)

Springfield Central and Springfield Catholic carried the banner for southwest Missouri at the 2018 State Team Tennis Tournament. Both teams would bring home fourth-place finishes after facing tough competition from throughout the state.

Central opened up play in the Class 2 Final Four tournament play with a 5-0 semifinal loss to Rock Bridge and then lost to St. Joseph’s Academy 5-0 during the third place match.

Catholic lost 5-0 in their Class 1 semifinal round opener to Visitation Academy then dropped a 5-1 decision to Pembroke Hill in the consolation round.

However, despite dropping contests in both their semifinals and consolation matches, the Bulldogs and Irish coaches were happy with what their teams were able to accomplish this year.

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE THIRD PLACE MATCHES

Central finishes fourth in third straight trip to Class 2 Final Four

“I’m so excited for our team. It’s really been a great day of tennis and just being here in the final four, and being around such prestigious company, has made this day really special for them,” said Central head tennis coach Donita Cox.

It’s the third straight trip to the final four for the Bulldogs, but getting to the ‘Big Dance’ this year wasn’t easy for them.

“We lost three seniors off last year’s team,” said Cox. “So we weren’t so sure we’d be making it back this year. But the kids banded together to get it done. Senior Asha Parvathaneni was especially instrumental in getting us back. She became a great leader for us. She made our girls believe in themselves, that they could make it back to the final four this year- and they did.”

“Getting us all back my senior year was really important to me,” said Parvathaneni. “We have such a great team and our girls are all special to me. I knew we could get here if we worked hard.”

Sasha Agarwal, another Central senior, says that having been part of the Bulldogs for the past few years has taught her a lot.

“Being part of this team has taught me a lot,” said Agarwal. “But not just about tennis. It’s taught me how to get through hardships. It’s taught me that when things get tough you can’t give up; you have to keep going. This is something I’ll take with me for the rest of my life.”

SEMIFINALS: Rock Bridge 5, Central 0 – CLICK HERE FOR FULL RESULTS
THIRD PLACE: St. Joseph’s Academy 6, Central 0 – CLICK HERE FOR FULL RESULTS

Springfield Catholic finishes fourth in Class 1

Springfield Catholic, who also enjoyed their third straight trip to the final four this year, played tough during Thursday’s state finals. And as Fightin’ Irish head coach Martin Versteeg sees it finishing fourth is nothing to hang your head about.

“There’s nothing to be ashamed about finishing fourth,” said Versteeg. “This is what we all strive for, to get to the state finals. There’s only room for four teams so just getting here says a lot about your kids and your program. I’m really proud of all our girls. They’ve really had a great season.”

Sophomore Erin Jarvis and senior Casey Lee teamed up to notch Catholic’s only win during the tournament. The duo downed Pembroke Hill’s No. 2 doubles team 9-8. Their match went to a tie breaker which they won 7-4.

“They were really tough. I lost to them last year so it felt great to get a win over them this year,” said Jarvis. “It was also great to win because this was my last match with Casey Lee. She’s a senior and has been a great teammate here at Catholic. I really wanted her to be able to get a win in her last match as member of the Irish.”

“Being a member of the team for the past four years has been very special to me,” said Casey. “And after losing our only match of the year against Visitation, in the semifinals, it feels really great going out with a win. I’m just glad I got to do it with Erin, she’s such a great doubles player and good friend.”

Of Friday Cooper tennis complex will play host to the state tournament singles and doubles finals.

SEMIFINALS: Visitation Academy 5, Catholic 0 – CLICK HERE FOR FULL RESULTS
THIRD PLACE: Pembroke Hill 5, Catholic 1 – CLICK HERE FOR FULL RESULTS