From staff reports

sports@joplinglobe.com

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Joplin’s Rachel Lazenby encountered little resistance Friday in the MSHSAA Class 2 girls state tennis tournament but, if the past is any indicator, today’s semifinal could be just the opposite.

Lazenby, a junior and the Eagles’ No. 1 player the last three years, will be greeted by a familiar face when she steps onto the court at Cooper Complex for her 9 a.m. match. On the other side of the net will be St. Joseph’s Academy’s Misia Kedzierski.

“I played Misia my freshman and sophomore years at state and have never beaten her,” said Lazenby, who fell to the St. Joseph’s junior in last year’s state quarterfinals.

Kedzierski placed third last year, while Lazenby dropped her consolation semifinal match to Parkway South’s Laura Richardson, who finished fifth. Richardson will go against another St. Joseph’s player, Madeline Jolly, in the other semifinal today. The championship will follow at 1 p.m.

“Kedzierski is a very good player,” said Joplin coach Sean McWilliams. “Rachel is definitely going in as an underdog but she has nothing to lose and she’s excited about the challenge. It is just a matter of executing her game plan.”

McWilliams said it’s important that Lazenby takes the opportunities when they arrive and be aggressive. He said she did a good job of getting to the net and cutting off points in Friday’s matches.

“I plan to get into the net against Kedzierski if I have enough confidence,” she said. “I do know that I must keep the ball away from her forehand (her strong point).”

Lazenby opened play Friday with 6-3, 6-2 victory against Katie Wanner from Cor Jesu Academy before racing through her quarterfinal without dropping a game, 6-0-6-0, against Amanda Zielinski from Francis Howell North.

“The match against Wanner was somewhat close but Rachel fought through it,” McWilliams said. “We knew the second match was going to be easier but it’s never easy at state.”

Kedzierski had even less trouble with her two opponents Friday, defeating Kelsey Kinderknecht, Columbia Rock Bridge, 6-1, 6-1, and Michelle Royle, Park Hill South, 6-0, 6-0.