Lady Tigers tennis edges Neosho, 5-4

NEOSHO -- The Nevada Lady Tigers tennis team took to the road Monday and found themselves in a very evenly-matched contest against the Lady Wildcats of Neosho High School.

Head coach Samantha Short's Lady Tigers ultimately came out on top by the slimmest of margins, taking the match by a final score of 5-4. The two squads were even after the six singles matches were played, but the Lady Tigers ultimately got doubles victories in the Nos. 1 and 2 matches to take the win.

Two of the Lady Tigers' singles wins finished nearly as close the dual as a whole, as Kierstin Lanham won the No. 2 match over Sydney Hays by a final score of 8-6 and Megan Payne defeated Sydnie Benjelloun by the same score in the No. 4 match. Lize Smith had a considerably easier time in the No. 3 singles match, defeating Hannah Morrison by a final score of 8-3.

Payne and Jessica DeCocq put on a dominant performance in the No. 1 doubles match, defeating Hays and Zoe Mitchell, 8-2. Lanham and Ellie Pruitt didn't quite have as easy a time, but still earned an 8-4 victory over Morrison and Benjelloun in the No. 2 match.

Short's junior varsity squad had even more success on the night, taking three of the four doubles matches that were played. Those wins came from the teams of Maggie Long and Olivia Doak, Courtney Smith and Sydney Baker, and Alexandria Richards and Sarah Harris.

The Lady Tigers were scheduled to be back in action against Fort Scott Tuesday night, but those results were not available at press time.