With the curtain going down on fall sports, a lot of memories have been made but none more indelible than those provided by two Joplin tennis players.
Rachel Lazenby, a Joplin High School senior, and Taylor Little, a junior from College Heights Christian School, proved nothing short of awesome in their regular-season performances and district matches, the latter of which earned them berths in the MSHSAA state tournament.
Although their respective teams were not able to make the state finale, Lazenby and Little carried their school banners high by winning the singles competition in their Class 1 and 2 districts, which automatically qualified them for state.
Not only did they win their districts, they did it in impressive fashion. After breezing through to the finals, Lazenby defeated Maggie Givens of Branson 6-4, 6-4 in Class 2 and Little, giving up only three games, swept past defending champion Elle Prewitt, Springfield
Greenwood, 6-3, 6-0 in Class 1 to claim the titles.
Then, it was on to state where the opponents change to a much higher level of skill and intensity.
I can personally vouch for that, having gone to a state tournament myself as a senior from Windsor High. For those not familiar with Greyhound land, Windsor is a community of about 3,000 people some 25 miles south of Sedalia.
To say I was intimidated by the level of competition at state would be putting it mildly. So I know how this year's two representatives from Joplin must have felt, especially Little, who was making her first appearance at state in a first-year tennis program at College Heights.
Despite the fact that this was Lazenby's third straight state appearance, this is a tournament where that veteran status just doesn't mean much, especially in calming the nerves.
She emphasized that following her quarterfinal victory against Savannah Drew of Timberland.
"I was nervous and shaking (knowing a win would put her into the semifinals)," she said. "It is hard not to think about winning or losing and just play."
And that came from a senior with two previous years of state competition.
Although Lazenby failed to achieve a state title like that of another Joplin player, Melissa Hoffmeister in 2005, she did make JHS history by finishing third two straight years.
"That was a tremendous accomplishment for her," Joplin coach Sean McWilliams said after Lazenby's recent third-place victory. "I was very excited for her because that put her into the record books for Joplin."
Although not for the same reason, Little was just as impressive in her own right just by playing in a state tournament. As a College Heights junior, Little, playing for the first time ever on a school team, marched all the way to state, where the best of the best compete. She has a lot to be proud of as does her coach and father, Blake.
In her first match at state, Little suffered a heart-breaking loss to Kate Sims of Barstow. After dropping the first set 6-3, she came back to dominate 6-1 in the second set before yielding 11-9 in the third-set tiebreaker.
Refusing to give up, however, Little collected her first-ever victory in state play, a 6-4, 6-4 consolation first-round decision over Kerstyn Bolton of St. Joseph Benton. Sammi Hornbarger of Visitation Academy defeated Little 6-4, 6-3 in the consolation quarterfinals and then went on capture fifth place.
Rich Brown is a sports writer for the Joplin Globe. Any questions or comments by sent to his e-mail: rbrown@joplinglobe.com or by calling 627-7269.
