Park Hill South tennis squeezes out dual win; PC closes with victory over Staley

A split of singles matches turned out to be enough for Park Hill South to stop a four-dual losing streak.

The Panthers held on for a 5-4 victory against Lee’s Summit North on Thursday, April 27 in Lee’s Summit, Mo. with three singles victories and two in doubles. Jason Jeong (No. 2), Andrew Robaska (No. 3) and Brandon Crabtree (No. 4) were the three singles winners, while No. 1 Joe Badalucco lost a tough 9-7 decision at the top of the lineup.

Badalucco and Jeong won 9-7 at No. 1 doubles for Park Hill South, while Robaska and Crabtree were 8-4 winners. Coming in, the Panthers had lost 4 straight since a Suburban Conference Red Division victory against St. Joseph Central — a streak that included a 6-3 league loss to Liberty North on Tuesday, April 25.

Park Hill South improved to 2-9 in duals heading to a regular season finale against Truman scheduled for Tuesday, May 2. The result was not available at The Citizen’s deadline.

Due to a rainout over the weekend, Park Hill South and Park Hill are slated to finish the regular season in the Northland Tournament on Saturday, May 5.

Platte County 6, Staley 3

The Pirates were victorious in a rain-delayed dual finished Wednesday, April 26 at North Kansas City District Activities Complex in Kansas City, Mo.

The doubles matches were resumed where they stopped when the match was postponed due to rain a month earlier. Platte County won two of the three with Noah Singer and Brayden Percival battling back from a 4-1 deficit to win at No. 2 in a tiebreaker, while Payton Anderson and Jack Lawver were 8-5 winners at No. 3.

Needing a split of singles, Platte County went two better.

Singer (No. 2), Klopfer (No. 3), Percival (No. 4), Anderson (No. 5) and Lawver (No. 6) were all winners. Percival (8-0) and Singer (8-1) won big for the Pirates.

Platte County closed the regular season at 10-2 and will have a lengthy break before postseason play. The Pirates should be seeded No. 2 in Class 2 District 16 and will likely start play Tuesday, May 9 with a home match at their recently completed facility.