The Trenton Lady Bulldogs beat the visiting Kirksville Lady Tigers on Thursday afternoon from the THS tennis courts, 6-3, with six seniors honored by the home team on “Senior Night”.
Trenton won 4 of 6 singles matches, and 2 of 3 doubles matches in their final tune-up for districts next week.
In singles, #2 player Lauren Dolan beat Christine Kuttenkuler 8-3, #4 Madison Searcy downed Krista Garth 8-2, #5 Emma Gilham defeated Vanessa VanLaningham 8-3, and #6 singles player Elle Neal was an 8-6 winner over Hannah Steele.
Kirksville’s singles wins came at #1, with Abigail Kuttenkuler taking an 8-1 win over Claire Utley, and at #3, where Olivia Halma was 8-5 in the win column over Samantha Mihalovich.
In doubles, Kirksville’s #1 team, made up of the Kuttenhuler’s, doubled up Trenton’s Utley and Dolan 8-4. At #2 doubles, Mihalovich and Searcy of the Bulldogs took an 8-4 win over Halma and Garth, while Gilham and Neal, at #3 doubles, were an 8-2 victor over VanLaningham and Steele.
The Bulldogs and Tigers played five junior varsity matches, with Trenton winning two. Emily Bonta and Gwyneth Foster took a 7-4 tiebreak win over Annaliese Novinger and Mikaela Schlueter, after the teams battled to an 8-8 draw. Bonta combined with Kennedy Wanstreet for a 6-2 win over Veronica Moots and Noelle Moutu.
Kirksville’s JV wins were from Presley and Moutu (6-2 over Kendall Crowley and Latorrie Johnson), Gran and Thomas (6-1 over Kennedy Wanstreet and Carly Wanstreet), and Clark and Spurlin (7-5 over Foster and Amanda Parrack).
Trenton will have a #2 seed for team districts next week, giving the Lady Bulldogs a first-round bye on Monday. On Tuesday afternoon, the Lady Bulldogs will host a district semifinal match at 4 o’clock. The victory would likely send THS on the road to Chillicothe, for a meeting with the top-seeded Lady Hornets in a potential district final showdown.
Individual districts start on Thursday, September 28th.
