Park Hill South showed they were the best team in the Class 2 District 16 tennis tournament on a few occasions last week.
The Panthers wrapped up an 12th straight district championship with a 6-1 victory against St. Joseph Central on Wednesday, Oct. 3 at the Park Hill South tennis courts in Riverside, Mo.
In district the first team to five wins, but two of the matches for the Panther ended simultaneous.
At No. 1 singles, Eva Kresovic won 6-4 and 6-2, while Annie Sanders posted a 6-3 and 6-0 victory at No. 5. Chloe Norris won 6-3 and 6-2 at No. 2 singles and Claudia Chou won 6-2 and 6-2 at No. 3 singles.
Submitted photo
The Park Hill South tennis team poses for a photo after beating St. Joseph Central for the Class 2 District 16 title on Wednesday.
The Panthers a 2-1 lead going into singles play.
Central beat Park Hill, 5-0, on Tuesday, Oct. 2 to punch a ticket into the finals.
Individual districts
Platte County High School hosted the Class 2 District 16 Individual meet on Friday, Oct. 5 and Park Hill South dominated the field again.
With the top two finisher in each bracket advancing, the Panthers had both teams in doubles move on, as did defending state champion Eva Kresovic, who beat Staley’s Claire Thimgan, 6-1 and 6-2.
In the semifinals, Thimgan beat Platte County’s Hannah Valentine, 6-1 and 6-0.
CODY THORN/Citizen photo
Platte County’s Crystal Billings delivers a serve to an opponent on Friday, Oct. 5 at the Class 2 District 16 individual tournament played at Platte County High School.
In doubles, the team of Chloe Norris and Annie Saunders won 6-2 and 6-1 against teammates Claudia Chou/Julia Stephens.
Platte County’s Karlee Chase and Lauryn Klein reached the semis, falling 6-2 and 6-3 to Chou/Stephens.
Class 2 Sectionals 8
The final step before state for the individual portion of the state tournament is slated to be held today, Wednesday, Oct. 10, at Platte County High School. It was originally set for Tuesday, but rain forced it to be pushed back a day.
Park Hill South will have three of the four spots from District 16 and will matchup against winners from District 15.
Eva Kresovic will play Winnetonka’s Skyler Murphy in singles. In doubles, Annie Saunders and Chloe Norris will face off against Liberty North’s Lily Reed and Maria Pidre. The other Panthers quad, Julia Stephens and Claudia Chou, will face off against Liberty’s Samantha Seggerman and Rebecca Floray.
The winners will advance to the state tournament, slated for Oct. 18-20 in Springfield, Mo.
State playoffs
The Panthers will play in the Class 2 playoffs and search for a fourth straight trip the quarterfinals on Saturday, Oct. 13. in Lee’s Summit, Mo.
That is when Park Hill South (12-6) plays Liberty (17-4) in one showdown, while Blue Springs will play Lee’s Summit West in the other.
The past two years, the Panthers won their first playoff match and then lost to Lee’s Summit West. The Panthers also advanced to the quarterfinals in 2015, losing to Notre Dame de Sion and 2012, losing to Lee’s Summit North.
The last time Park Hill South wasn’t in the postseason was 2006.