Lady Tigers capture first at Warrensburg Doubles Tournament

The champion Nevada Lady Tigers tennis team celebrates its first-place finish. (Submitted photo)

The Nevada Lady Tigers scorching-hot start to the season continued Friday as NHS added to its collection of hardware with a first-place finish at the Warrensburg Doubles Tournament.

The tournament was an eight-team bracket format, as Nevada was joined by Bolivar, Clinton, Higginsville, Harrisonville, Knob Noster, O'Hara and Warrensburg.

Nevada's top doubles duo, Emma Cheaney and Erica Watanabe netted second place overall. The duo first toppled Knob Knoster's Jessica Yates and Alexis Allen 8-6 in the first round (quarterfinals).

In the semifinals, Cheaney and Watanabe survived a thriller against Warrensburg's Halley Pointek and Hannah Shaffer, winning 6-2, (6-3), and 10-7 in the tiebreaker.

Cheaney and Watanabe fell in the finals to Bolivar's Mackenzie Roberts and Mary Grace Harris 6-2, 6-0.

Nevada's No. 2 doubles tandem, Sydnie Baker and Jaiden Cherry, placed third overall. In the quarterfinals Baker and Cherry downed Bolivar's Paige Martin and Emma White 8-4. Baker and Cherry were defeated in the semifinals by Warrensburg's Shelby Davis and Hope Dahlhoff 6-4, (6-1), and 10-2 tiebreaker.

In the third-place finals match, Baker and Cherry topped Regan Wood and Camille Carminucci of Higginsville 8-4.

In the quarterfinals, Nevada's No. 3 doubles team, Courtney Smith and Mikena Padgett doubled up Knob Knoster's Ella Konrad and Brianna YacoBozzi 8-4.

After dropping the first set of the semifinals 6-4 to Bolivar's Jennifer Stillwagon and Maddie Beurin, Nevada then regrouped to win the second set, 6-2, before bouncing the Bolivar duo 10-4 in the tiebreaker.

In the finals, Smith and Padgett breezed by Karley Renolds and Bethany Nichols of Harrisonville 6-1, 6-3.