CJ goes 2-0 in tennis triangular with Joplin and Webb

The Carl Junction girls’ tennis team logged a pair of wins over Joplin and Webb City in a three-team round-robin Wednesday at Joplin High School.

Joplin vs. Webb City

In the first battle of the day, Joplin (7-10) won one of three doubles matches and four of six singles matches to claim a 5-4 win over Webb City (1-4).

In the No. 1 doubles match, Joplin’s Lylah Fry and Lily Compton fell 8-2 to the Webb City duo of Maecy Beverlin and Katelyn Cox.

The Cardinals also claimed the No. 2 doubles match when Lorelai Fisher and Sadae Reid defeated Joplin’s Julia Reyes-Alvarado and Louisa Curchin 8-5.

Joplin closed in on the Cardinals with a win in No. 3 doubles when Kylea Thulleson and Elaina Ramos held on for an 8-6 win over Webb City’s Aubrey Peterson and Aranza Gamez.

In single’s action, the Cardinals No. 1, Beverlin, beat Joplin’s Reyes-Alvardo 8-4, but dropped the No. 2 match when Joplin’s Fry defeated Peterson 8-5.

Joplin’s Thullesen fell 8-5 to Webb’s Fisher in the No. 3 singles match, but Joplin’s Lily Compton beat Webb City’s Reid 8-3 in their No. 4 matchup.

In the No. 5 singles duel, Joplin’s Ramos beat Katelyn Cox 8-5 and in the final match, and in No. 6, Joplin’s Curchin logged an 8-3 win over Gamez.

“We’d love to have that three doubles match back and the couple of 8-5 losses in singles,” Cardinal head coach Stephany Pace said. “I keep saying it, but it remains the truth — we continue to improve as we play. We do need to focus on mental toughness, though, and closing out the close ones.”

“We’re doing a lot of things right, but there are things we can and should work on,” Joplin head coach Ben Coltharp said. “The main thing is just staying in shape and moving our feet, but I think that’s something that every team can benefit from. We are still playing hard and we are about where we were last year — maybe a little better. We are improving little-by-little each day.”

CJ vs. Webb City

In the second of three round, the Bulldogs (6-5) earned a 7-2 win over the Cardinals.

Carl Junction’s Brooklin Leggett and Brooke Jasperson defeated Beverlin and Cox 8-2 in their No. 1 doubles match. In No. 2 doubles, Webb City’s Fisher and Reid beat CJ’s Olivia Bakos and Hailey Hunter in a tiebreaker match 9-8 (7-5).

In No. 3 doubles, CJ’s Valeria Figueroa and Emma Strickland earned an 8-3 win over Webb City’s Peterson and Gamez.

In the No. 1 singles match, CJ’s Leggett defeated Beverlin 8-5 in a back-and-forth battle.

Jasperson earned an 8-2 win over Peterson in No. 2 singles and in No. 3 singles, Bakos beat Webb City’s Fisher 8-2.

Carl Junction’s Figueroa claimed an 8-5 win over Reid at No. 4 and Strickland was an 8-3 winner over Webb’s Cox in the No. 5 singles match. In the No. 6 singles match, Webb City’s Gamez beat Hunter 8-6.

“We’re where we thought we would be,” said CJ Head Coach Craig Fox. “We’re coming up on a really tough part of our schedule with a lot of matches the next two weeks. That will be a good measuring stick to see where we are at. But I am really pleased with where we are at.”

CJ vs. Joplin

In the final team match of the day, the Bulldogs swept the doubles competition and earned an 8-1 win over Joplin.

In No. 1 doubles, CJ’s Leggett and Jasperson beat Joplin’s Thulleson and Reyes-Alvarado, and Bakos and Strickland logged a 9-7 win over the No. 2 Eagle duo of Compton and Fry. In No. 3 doubles, Figueroa and Hunter beat Curchin and Ramos 8-3.

CJ’s Leggett notched an 8-4 win over Reyes-Alvarado in No. 1 singles and Jasperson defeated Joplin’s Fry 8-3 in their No. 2 singles match.

In No. 3 singles, Carl Junction’s Bakos was an 8-2 winner over Joplin’s Thullesen and in the No. 4 singles match, Figueroa defeated Joplin’s Compton 8-4.

CJ’s Strickland earned an 8-5 win over Joplin’s Ramos in their No. 5 matchup. The Eagles lone win was an 8-4 victory for Curchin over CJ’s Hunter in the No. 6 duel.

All three teams compete at the Webb City-Carl Junction co-hosted Bird-Dog Invitational at the Joplin Athletic Complex at 9 a.m. Friday.