Girls Tennis Places Third at Annual Barstow Tournament

The Barstow girls' tennis team saw their first tournament action of the year on the Plaza vs several of the larger Suburban Conference schools in the KC area. The Knights placed third out of eight teams with solid individual performances.  In the B singles division, freshman Mara Highes lost her first round to Lee's Summit North, but played well in the second round losing a much closer match against a Blue Springs player and then finished playing well in a loss to a senior from Grain Valley.

In the A singles division, junior Mira Gupta lost in the first round to a player from Lee's Summit (the eventual winner of the tournament) 2-8, then lost in consolation semis to Lee's Summit North. However, Mira put some team points on the board in the final round with an 8-4 win over a Blue Springs player.
  

The Knights did their real damage with last year's veteran state champions in doubles.  In the B doubles division, juniors Emilia Prier and Duha Azaz won their first round against Central from St. Joseph, 8-2.  The girls broke open a 5-5 tie to roll to an 8-5 win in the semis against Blue Springs.  They played well, but lost a tough match in the B doubles championship against Lee's Summit.
  

In the A doubles division senior Sonya Shkuta and sophomore Anya Stanojevic rolled to an 8-0 win in the opening round against Marshall before moving on to play a tough Grain Valley team in the semis. Sonya and Anya started slowly and were tied 4-4 early, but then ran off four of the next 5 sets for an 8-5 victory.  In the A doubles division championships against #2 seed Lee's Summit North, the Knights found their first serves and overwhelmed the net with put away volleys for a convincing 8-0 win and claimed the doubles title.  

The Knights take on powerhouse and last year's large class final four runner up, Liberty at the Barstow courts on Monday, varsity at home and JV at the courts at Liberty High School.