The Harlan County tennis team swept Middlesboro on Thursday and split with Knox Central on Friday.
The Lady Bears, ranked 17th in the state in a poll this week, won 7-2 at Middlesboro while the boys won 5-4.
“I’m very proud of the performance we exhibited tonight. We lost a few courts on the girls side that I felt we should have pulled through, but overall I’m proud of our squad,” Harlan County coach Caleb Bailey said after the wins over Middlesboro. “Much respect to Middlesboro. Their kids have improved a bunch over the offseason. Coach (Jeff) McClelland is doing a great job over there. Very proud of the boys. To come back and win the first court in a super tiebreaker was huge, and to have all of the guys step up to win their respective court was big. We had a great day overall.”
The HCHS girls edged Knox Central 5-4 at home while the boys fell 6-3.
“We came up short on a few important courts on the girls side, but luckily we had a lot to step up tonight to gather the team win. Kaitlyn Daniels, Sophie Day and Riley Witt played as good as you can in their spot to gather the win. Sophie Day and Kalista Dunn pulled out a big win at the two spot in doubles. Unfortunately, Addison Fields and Bani Chaudhary didn’t get to finish their match as their opponents had to default due to injury, but that collected the winning score,” Bailey said. “The boys had some trouble tonight after our top two spots into some unforced errors that can easily be corrected. I was especially proud of Calan Neely and Elijah Moore tonight in both their singles wins and their doubles win. When they play like that they are tough to beat.”
Harlan County returns to action April 9 at home against Barbourville.
Harlan County girls defeat Middlesboro 7-2
Singles
1 Kalista Dunn (HC) def. T. Ayers (M), 8-1
2 Laura Ball (HC) def. S. Howerton (M) 6-1
3 R. Rogers (M) def. Kaitlyn Daniels (HC), 6-3
4 M. Martin (M) def. Sophie Day (HC), 6-4
5 Riley Witt (HC) def. B. Hatfield (M) 6-4
6 HC win by default
Doubles
1 Ball/ Daniels (HC) def. Ayers/Haerton (M), 8-6
2 Dunn/Day (HC) def. Rogers/ Martin (M) 6-0
3 HC win by default
Harlan County boys defeat Middlesboro, 5-4
1 Calan Neely (HC) def. B. Marsee (M), 6-7 (7-4), 6-1, 10-6
2 Elijah Moore (HC) def. S. Brackman (M) 6-4
3 Josh Stewart (HC) def. S. Lin (M) 6-4
4 M. Young (M) def. Jason Maggard (HC), 1-6
5 Trey Ball (HC) def. N. Caroll (M), 6-2
6 P. Ayers (M) def. Grayson Short (HC), 0-6
Doubles
1 Neely/ Moore (HC) def. Marsee/Brackman, 6-4
2 Lin/Young (M) def. Stewart/Maggard (HC), 3-6
3 Carol/Ayers (M) def. Ball/Short (HC), 0-6
Harlan County girls defeat Knox Central, 5-4
Singles
S. Parton (KC) def. Kalista Dunn (HC), 8-2
E. McDonald (KC) def. L. Ball (HC), 8-6
Kaitlyn Daniels (HC) def. A. Ledford (KC), 8-3
Sophie Day (HC) def. K. Smith (KC), 6-1
L. Jordan (KC) def. Bailee Jones (HC), 6-3
Riley Witt (HC) def. M. Wilson (KC), 7-5
Doubles
Parton/McDonald (KC) def. Ball/Daniels (HC), 8-2
Dunn/Day (HC) def. Ledford/Smith (KC), 6-2
Addison Fields/Bani Chaudhary def. Jordan/Wilson (KC) by default (inj)
Knox Central defeat Harlan County boys, 6-3
Singles
Calan Neely (HC) def. N. Partin (KC), 8-1
Elijah Moore (HC) def. E. Mills (KC), 8-1
B. Hembdee (KC) def. Josh Stewart (HC), 8-4
H. Payne (KC) def. Jason Maggard (HC), 6-0
T. Centers (KC) def. Grayson Short (HC), 6-3
E. Carey (KC) def. Trey Ball (HC), 6-2
Doubles
Neely/Moore (HC) def. Partin/Mills (KC), 8-3
Hembree/Payne (KC) def. Stewart/Maggard (HC), 6-1
Mills/Mills (KC) def. Ball/Short (HC), 6-4
