The Lady Tigers tennis team came from behind in three singles matches to close out a 6-3 victory on the road at Carthage. It was another comeback win for Republic, who also needed late heroics to knock off Rogersville in a match last week.
Republic won two of three doubles matches to start the night, including a victory by the team of sophomore Molly Womack and junior Macie Thornhill. The victory improved their doubles record as a team to 4-0 this season.
“They’ve had some great wins at Bolivar, Rogersville, here tonight. I think their biggest thing is they play smart,” coach Eric Hanson says of the duo. “They take the balls that are given to them. They’ll lob. They’ll get people out of position, and they’re willing to take net volleys when they’re presented.”
After winning two doubles matches, Republic lost two of the first three matches played in singles, evening the overall score at 3-3. Heather Georges and Kaitlyn Snyder both fell behind, but rallied to win. Snyder, a freshman, won six games in a row to overcome a 5-2 deficit and win 8-2.
“With a young player, it’s really about confidence. She’s playing #2 as a freshman, and she’s seeing a lot of upperclassmen,” says Hanson. “It’s really about having the confidence in your strokes, and when (that) comes, then everything falls into place. What we told her is, ‘Win or lose, hit your tennis ball. Hit what you’ve been trained to do. When she started doing that, she started rolling.”
Tayler Avery also cruised to an easy 8-1 win in her singles match. Thornhill won her singles match 8-3.
The JV team won 8-3.
Republic improves to 3-1 this season. The Lady Tigers travel to Nixa Tuesday for a double dual against Nixa and Webb City. That match had originally been scheduled for Republic, but was moved because of a delay in resurfacing the courts at Republic High School.