MHS tennis: Lady Owls move on to sectional

After two days of weather delays, the Marshall girls' tennis team finally got on the court for its MSHSAA Class 1 Regional match against visiting Warrensburg -- and escaped before more rain fell Thursday with a 5-1 victory.

The win sent the Lady Owls to the sectional tournament Saturday, hosted by first-time District 7 champion Grain Valley.

"The girls played really well," remarked MHS head coach Susan Carney. "They went out and did what they had to do."

The contest began with doubles play, Marshall winning two of three tilts. Senior Virginia Hutcherson and sophomore Haley Evans, who won the district meet to advance to state for the second year in a row, notched a strong 6-2, 6-2 win over junior Danielle Wells and sophomore Alyssa Fox.

The next two matches, though, were very close -- the Lady Owls having reverted to the Nos. 2 and 3 pairings they used at the beginning of the season.

Sophomores Amy Van and Skylar Simpson went the distance against the Lady Tigers' combo of junior Susamita Kesh and senior Tiffany Waitzmann before dropping a 4-6, 6-0, 6-4 decision. However, sophomore Allea Summers and senior Audra Taylor pulled out two close sets for a 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 victory over sophomore Alex Lackey and senior Stephanie Colvin.

Marshall nailed it down in the top three singles spots. Hutcherson recovered from a mid-match slump to defeat Wells, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0, while Evans and Van had no problems notching identical 6-1, 6-0 wins.

Summers was also ahead in her No. 4 match, 6-4, 5-1, when the Lady Owls got the fifth win which eliminated Warrensburg (14-3) from the playoffs.

Marshall (15-3) will take on Bishop LeBlond of St. Joseph, which bounced the Birds from last year's sectional meet, in the quarterfinal round at Blue Springs South -- the Lady Eagles, who take on St. Joseph-Benton, only having four courts on campus.

The winners of those two matches will play later in the day at Grain Valley.