By Don Eskins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
It’s been a banner year for the Nixa Lady Eagles tennis team. The Eagles picked up a big victory on Friday by capturing their own Nixa Tennis Tournament.
The Eagles got strong performances from all of its girls to place in three of four divisions to edge out a very tough Forsyth Lady Panthers squad 8-10 to pick up this year’s championship title.
Placing third were the Ozark Tigers with 14 while the Republic Tigers grabbed the fourth spot with 15. (Teams were ranked from lowest to highest point totals)
“It’s always a great feeling to win a tournament,” said Eagle head coach Brock Blansit. “But when the tournament you win is your own that makes it special. We couldn’t be happier.”
“We had a strong field in the tournament this year with four or five of the teams playing pretty even,” said Blansit. “So we had a pretty good idea that this year’s results would be close and that’s just how it played out. Overall it came down to just two or three matches, matches which we were able to win by getting strong performances from our girls. Our girls gave their best throughout the tournament, making each match count, and I’m really proud of the efforts we got from all of them.”
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE TOURNAMENT
Out in front for the Eagles was the doubles team of Megan Brassard and Olivia Engelman. The two battled their way to a first flight championship by defeating Forsyth’s Morgan Blom and Meadow Mardis in the tournament’s doubles final.
“I wasn’t surprised that Megan and Olivia won our tournament’s first flight doubles title,” said Blansit. “They’ve been our strength all season long.”
Nixa also got strong performances from second flight singles champion Anna Martin, second flight doubles runners-up Mallory Yeary & Jenelle Schmidly and first flight singles fourth place finisher Arabella Cosgrove.
Other top performances at the Nixa Tournament were turned in by: first flight singles champion Melissa Sanchez from Ozark and second flight doubles champions Wrigley Cook and Abigail McCord from Republic.
“We’ve got Carl Junction coming up on Tuesday, our conference tournament on Wednesday and District after that,” said Blansit. “Although we’ve enjoyed a lot of success this year we’ve still got a lot of tennis still ahead. Picking up a tournament title here in Nixa this weekend should give our girls a boost as we head down the final, and most important, stretch of our season.”
Nixa Tourney Results
Team Standings
1. Nixa 8
2. Forsyth 10
3. Ozark 14
4. Republic 15
5. Willow Springs 19
6. Clever 24
7. Aurora 25
8. Hillcrest 29
First Flight Singles
1. Melissa Sanchez- Ozark
2. Elsie Crawford- Repo
3. Sarah Hutchison- Forsyth
4. Arabella Cosgrove- Nixa
Second Flight Singles
1. Anna Marten- Nixa
2. Emmy Stretch- Forsyth
3. Paige Chrastina-Ozark
4. Lilly Sumners- Aurora
First Flight Doubles
1. Megan Brassard/Olivia Engelman- Nixa
2. Morgan Blom/Meadow Mardis- Forsyth
3. Taylor Reese/McKenna Cox- Willow Springs
4. Hannah Metcalf/Madison Tourville- Ozark
Second Flight Doubles
1. Wrigley Cook/Abigail McCord- Republic
2. Mallory Yeary/Jenelle Schmidly- Nixa
3. Keelei Plummer/McKenzie Calhoun- Forsyth
4. McKylie Cox/Anna Hood- Willow Springs
