TJ, Webb City compete at Class 2 District 6 tourney

The Thomas Jefferson Cavaliers prevailed 5-0 over Webb City in the Class 2 District 6 semifinals on Tuesday to advance to the district championship match with No. 1 seed Springfield Catholic.

Esther Yang and Sara Maksoud defeated Maecy Beverlin and Katelyn Cox 8-2 in No. 1 doubles, Madelyn Ro and Jenna Joseph beat Lorelai Fisher and Sadee Reid 8-1, and Lucy Lowery and Audrey Bowles were 8-3 winners over Webb City’s Aubrey Peterson and Aranza Zavala-Gamez.

In the singles matches, TJ’s Yang earned 6-0, 6-1 wins over Beverlin and Maksoud won 6-0, 6-0 over Peterson.

TJ will play for the district title Wednesday at 4 p.m. at Springfield Catholic.

Webb City ended its season at 8-9, but not before making significant strides from an injury-plagued 1-15 season last year.

“They have worked their tails off — in the off-season, in the summer and all season long,” Webb City head coach Stephany Pace said. “Last year our record was definitely not indicative of who we were, but we had multiple injures for a good part of the season. This year, though, everyone has stayed healthy. We worked together and no one quit. They continued to work hard and continued to be coachable.”

TJ head coach Tom Brumfield weighed in on his team, too

“They put a lot of hard work in throughout the entire year to be able to accomplish what they do,” Brumfield said. “They have bought into it and know what they need to do.”

Wet conditions in the Joplin area on Monday delayed the start of the Class 2 District 6 girls tennis tournament, forcing four teams to play both opening and semifinal rounds Tuesday.

The third-seeded Webb City Cardinals got off to a good start, sweeping both the doubles and singles matches for a 5-0 win against No. 6-seed Parkview at Webb City.

In the No. 1 doubles match, Webb City’s Beverlin and Peterson beat Parkview’s Molly Goodman and Kayla Baker 8-1. In the No. 2 doubles match, Fisher and Reid defeated Parkview’s Fiona Barnhouse and Autumn Deatherage by the same score.

The Cardinals went into the singles competition with a 3-0 match lead after Webb City’s No. 3 doubles team of Cox and Gamez-Aranza beat Parkview’s Evangeline Verdugo and Natalie Nata, 8-3.

In the No. 5 singles match, Webb City’s Cox blanked Parkview’s LaLisa Whiteside 6-0, 6-0, and Gamez-Aranza also shutout Parkview’s Verdugo 6-0, 6-0 in the No. 6 singles match, setting up a semifinal match with second-seeded Thomas Jefferson (8-0).

In the other opening round match, TJ’s Yang and Maksoud claimed an 8-2 win over Hillcrest’s Keaton Patton and Niela Hawkins in the No. 1 doubles competition at TJ.

In No. 2 doubles, TJ’s Madelyn Ro and Jenna Joseph beat Hillcrest’s Elizabeth Pacheco and Chloe Smith 8-1.

TJ’s Lucy Lowery and Audrey Bowles also earned an 8-1 win over Hillcrest’s Jaylinn Parlette and Shaunacee Billingslea in the No. 3 doubles match.

In the opening-round singles competition against Hillcrest, TJ’s No. 1 singles player, Yang, beat Hillcrest’s Patton 6-0, 6-1, and the Cavaliers advanced to the semifinals with a 5-0 win when TJ’s Joseph claimed a 6-0, 6-1 win over Hillcrest’s Smith in their No. 4 singles match.