For the second straight season, Eva Kresovic experienced her biggest test in the Class 2 Missouri State Tennis Championships semifinals.
Park Hill South’s sophomore star passed this time and came away with the first state championship in program history. Her three-set win over Rockwood Summit’s Ella Kinder in the semifinals gave way toa dominant 6-2, 6-1 victory over Mehlville’s Alyson Piskulic in the finals Saturday, Oct. 14 in Springfield, Mo.
Citizen file photo
Park Hill South sophomore Eva Kresovic, seen here in a match earlier this season, won the Class 2 Missouri State Tennis Championships’ singles title over the weekend.
Kresovic won 10 of the final 11 games in the championship match to become the first individual state tennis champion in Park Hill South history.
Last season, Kresovic lost 6-1, 6-4 to Caroline Pozo of Lafayette (Wildwood) in the semifinals. Pozo went on to win her third straight single state title, while Kresovic came back to take third to finish off her freshman season.
Kresovic didn’t lose once as a sophomore.
After sitting out a few weeks with a back injury, Kresovic returned for the postseason and led Park Hill South into the team playoffs for an 11th straight season. She also won the Class 2 District 15 singles title and then earned a return to the state tournament with a Class 2 Sectional 8 win over Platte County’s junior Hannah Valentine.
Kresovic dropped just three games in her first two victories at state to set up the semifinal with Kinder, who also lost to Pozo in the 2016 state tournament.
Kinder took the opening set before Kresovic fought back for a 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory to advance to the final. She then won the first two games against Piskulic, who also went into the championship match undefeated.
Piskulic evened the first set at 2-2, but Kresovic dominated from there in the 6-2, 6-1 sweep. She finished the season 29-0 and became the first Class 2 singles state champion from the Kansas City area since Tess Herder of Lee’s Summit in 2013.