Freshmen Allea Summers (above) and Julie Rector won two of three matches for second place in No. 3 doubles at the NCMC Tournament. (Chris Allen/Democrat-News) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

KIRKSVILLE -- Marshall head girls' tennis coach Susan Carney doesn't like to conceded anything, any time.

However, it was apparent after Kirksville beat the Lady Owls for the championship of the Marshall Tournament two weeks earlier that the Lady Tigers had the upper hand.

"Kirksville has truly a stronger team than we have," Carney admitted after the Lady Tigers claimed the NCMC Tournament title Saturday on their home turf. "We were definitely the underdogs."

The Lady Owls had enjoyed a stranglehold on the conference crown since Rock Bridge left the loop at the end of the 2003-04 school year, but Kirksville returned five of its six starters from a year ago -- while Marshall had only two back, none from the top three spots in the line-up.

Hence, the Lady Tigers won four of six gold medals in singles and all three doubles championships to rack up 61 points.

The Lady Owls had to settle for second place with 50 points, well ahead of third-place Moberly at 35.

"They played their hearts out, but we're a young team," Carney said about her girls' effort. "They gave us everything they had."

Marshall had six shots at the Lady Tigers, but the only win came in the title match at No. 5 singles, where senior Olivia Butler -- part of the winning No. 2 doubles team last year -- defeated senior Molly Haman, 10-6.

The Lady Owls had five more cracks at Kirksville, three in the finals, but couldn't pull out a victory.

Junior Virginia Hutcherson fell to junior Jean Ochs, the runner up to Marshall's Amy Durham last year, at No. 1 singles, 10-3. Freshman Amy Van suffered her first loss of the season at No. 6, after starting 14-0, in a 10-3 match against junior Maureen Freeland -- who didn't play in the first meeting between the teams.

The doubles tilts were at No. 1 singles -- where freshman Skylar Simpson and sophomore Audra Taylor were stopped 10-7 by junior Caroline Kreps and senior Shelby Maggart -- and No. 3, an all-freshman affair in which the Lady Owls' Allea Summers and Julie Rector dropped a 10-5 decision to Alicia Noll and Laurel Haxton.

There were also two semifinal losses to the Lady Tigers for Marshall. Junior Kara Ward was beaten by junior Britni Norfolk, 10-2, then went on to split her next two matches for fourth place at No. 2 singles. And senior Kim Van suffered a 10-4 loss to sophomore Chloe Wichmann before coming back to win her next two rounds for third place.

"We played well, but didn't get any help," Carney noted. "We hit a couple of high seeds early."

One of those was Moberly junior Sarah David at No. 3 singles. David had beaten Ward, 10-6, while playing in the two spot during the dual match a month earlier, but had a tougher time with freshman Haley Evans during a 10-8 semifinal win. Evans cruised to two decisions after that to finish third.

Also coming in third was the senior novice doubles team of Rachel Audet and Madison Cochran, who won three of four matches at No. 2.

The Lady Owls, who play at Grain Valley today, are due to host the Class 1, District 7 Tournament this week. Among the 12 teams in the field is Chillicothe, the only other squad to hand Marshall a dual loss this season.

Carney is hoping the Lady Owls have developed to the point that they can extend their state record of MSHSAA playoff appearances to 22 straight years.

"Our team, since the first of the season, had grown a ton," she declared. "Their confidence level is much higher."